Animagus
by Bel-Halliwell
Summary: Set in book 5. Minerva McGonagall goes out for a midnight stroll to come across Hermione Granger practicing magic. Instead of reprimanding her, she offers to help...Minerva/Hermione friendship
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: There aren't enough Minerva and Hermione fics out there so I decided to write one, as well as I was inspired by a few fantastically written ones – see my favourites list for them. This is MM/HG friendship. Enjoy!_

Minerva rolled over in bed and sighed to herself.

Moonlight shone through the window, casting shadows around the room, enhancing the silence. It was late, Minerva wasn't sure exactly how late, but knew enough to realise she should have been asleep hours ago.

Yet here she was, wide awake. For the past few hours she had tossed and turned, yet sleep refused to overcome her. By this point, she was fed up and frustrated.

Minerva was about to completely give up and start grading essays, when another thought took hold of her mind. "Warm milk…" she said to herself, already climbing out of bed. She wasn't sure if it was partly thanks to her feline form, but warm milk always helped to calm her nerves and relax her. At this point, she was ready to try anything.

Instead of putting on her dressing gown, Minerva changed into her cat form. It was a quicker, stealthier way to move unnoticed through the castle, and the extra exercise could only help tire her out so she could sleep better.

Quietly slipping out of her rooms, she padded silently down the dark corridor. She glanced up at the Fat Lady's portrait as she passed the Gryffindor common room, who nodded slightly in recognition. She then continued on her way, making no noise whatsoever in the already silent corridors.

However, as she neared her transfigurations classroom, Minerva began to sense…something. Her ears pricked but there was no sound, yet she could feel more magic in the air than normal. Her feline senses somehow were able to pick it up, whereas in her human form she couldn't.

Minerva changed back to her normal self, and reached out for the doorknob to her classroom. As quietly as she could, she twisted the knob.

It was locked.

She drew her wand out and muttered the spell to unlock it, and attempted again. This time the knob twisted all the way around and she slowly eased the door open with her wand at the ready.

What she saw before her was not at all what she was expecting.

Hermione Granger stood in the middle of the room, wand in one hand and an open book in the other. Eyes zipping across the page, her lips moving slightly as she read. Every now and then she would give her wand a slight swish, apparently practicing wand movements for what she was reading.

She was so absorbed in her work that she failed to notice Minerva standing in the doorway. Minerva watched for a moment, and then quietly cleared her throat.

Hermione jumped at the sound, sending the book flying. Her wand jerked with the movement, setting a nearly desk on fire. Her face was filled with panic as she stared at the figure in the doorway, trying to make sense of who it was.

"Agumenti," Minerva said, pointing her wand at the flaming desk. A jet of water shot out of the end of her wand, landing on the desk and extinguishing the fire. She then pocketed her wand and moved closer to her student. "I'm sorry to startle you, Miss Granger," she said softly.

"Professor! I'm so sorry, I know I should be in bed, please don't be mad, I didn't mean-" Hermione began to babble frantically but was brought to a silence as Minerva raised her hand.

"Miss Granger, its okay, I'm not mad," she replied to the worried girl before her. "But I would appreciate you telling me what you're doing in my classroom at one in the morning."

Hermione nodded, and took a slow breath to calm her racing nerves. "I'm practicing a spell, and it's particularly difficult. I've been spending a few hours for the past couple nights studying the theory, and wanted to try the practical side now."

"Do you mind telling me what spell you are working on?" Minerva asked, her interest peaked.

Hermione hesitated slightly. "Um, I'd rather not, Professor," she replied, nervously biting her bottom lip.

Minerva sighed slightly, and moved a step closer to her student. "Look, I understand you care about your studies, but if you're practicing difficult magic in the middle of the night, I need to know what you're working on."

"Okay," Hermione answered slowly, knowing she wouldn't get around the question. "I've been practicing on…um…becoming an Animagus."

Minerva's eyes widened slightly. "Miss Granger, why didn't you want to tell me that? It is a very complex piece of magic, however not illegal so I can't understand why you wouldn't tell me. After all, I am an Animagus too, I could be of aid."

"I wasn't sure if you would allow me to take on such a demanding task, only in my fifth year," replied Hermione. "But we're not learning any defence at the moment, and You Know Who is back now, and I want to learn anything that may one day help, like how your Animagus form once helped Professor Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald." Her volume dropped several levels as she continued, causing Minerva to strain to hear her. "And I didn't want to tell you in case I couldn't do it."

Minerva softened immediately, touched that her student wanted to do that. She could see under the façade that Hermione hid behind that the young girl desperately craved her praise, and feared failure.

"Becoming an Animagus is definitely one of the hardest areas of Transfigurations to master, and I rarely even allow seventh year students to undertake it. However, never have I had such a gifted student before, in all my years of teaching," Minerva said softly, reaching out to gently squeeze Hermione's shoulder. The girl glanced up at her professor, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "Yet despite you being in your fifth year, I feel you are more than ready to take on this challenge than any of my current seventh year students."

"Really?" Hermione replied softly, a surprised look upon her face.

Minerva nodded. "Definitely. And Hermione, I'm honoured that you would do this alone to surprise me. If you have ever had any doubt, I assure you that I am already very proud of you, and that will never change even if you don't succeed in something."

Hermione glowed at her professor's words, noting that she used her first name, and a small yet warm smile appeared on her face. "Thanks professor, that means a lot."

Minerva smiled back, and in an uncharacteristic display of affection, she reached over and gave Hermione a brief hug. Hermione was surprised, yet quickly relaxed into the embrace and hugged Minerva back.

After a moment or two, Minerva pulled away, clearing her throat. "Alright, so now I know that you want to become an Animagus. I'll understand if you want to continue alone, but if you might like to, I'd be happy to help train you?"

Hermione grinned, and nodded immediately. "I'd love that, Professor. But only if you have the time, I don't want to be a burden or anything…"

"Nonsense, you'll never be a burden to me," Minerva replied, brushing away any of Hermione's concerns. "How about we make it every second evening, we meet in my office and spend an hour or two working on it?"

"That would be great, Professor," said Hermione, nodding earnestly.

"Excellent. Instead of beginning tonight, we'll start tomorrow evening, at 9pm if that's fine by you. It's quite late right now and both of us should be in bed. Besides, I'm sure you must be feeling tired after a day in Hogsmeade," Minerva said. Hermione nodded again, and the two left the classroom together. Minerva waved her wand, extinguishing the lights in the room, and they began down the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Professor," Hermione began thoughtfully as they walked, "how did you know I was in the room? I had cast several spells so no one would catch me."

Minerva smiled. "I noticed these spells, you're quite talented with your spell work. I highly doubt that any other person would have found you out. I only did, as I was on my way to the kitchen in my feline form, and I could sense magic from within the room. I can only sense it in my cat form, and only if the magic is particularly strong," she replied. "Now, if you don't mind me asking a question, why did you choose my classroom to practice? Why not just the common room, which would be a lot less risky?"

"I didn't want any students coming down in the middle of the night and see what I was doing," Hermione answered. "And I don't know why, but my magic feels…stronger, I guess, when I'm in your classroom."

Minerva smiled at that. Back when she was a student, her magic had always felt stronger in the Transfiguration classroom. Yet back then, it wasn't her classroom, it belonged to Professor Albus Dumbledore. _Who knows, maybe it will one day become Hermione's classroom, _she thought.

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and before Hermione entered the common room she turned to her teacher.

"Professor McGonagall, I just want to say thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it," Hermione said softly.

"Anything for you, Hermione," replied Minerva, a small smile gracing her lips. "And, since we're going to be spending quite a bit of time alone together, feel free to call me Minerva when we're in private."

Hermione grinned, and nodded.

"Good night," Minerva told the young girl, giving her a brief one armed hug, which Hermione responded to before pulling back.

"Good night...Minerva," Hermione replied and turned to enter the common room. Minerva began to move down the corridor to her private quarters, her thoughts of warm milk long gone, and didn't hear the content sigh that escaped Hermione's lips as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung shut.

_TBC…any suggestions, advice or ideas are appreciated_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: For those who reviewed and said how Minerva would have been speaking to Hermione in her nightie, that didn't even occur to me! So I'm just going to go along with the idea that they didn't notice either :)_

Chapter Two

The following day flew past for Minerva. She had a full day of classes, and didn't even manage to make it to the Great Hall for lunch. Instead she had to settle for a hasty lunch of tea and several Ginger Newts in her office whilst answering the many owls that had kept coming all morning.

Before she knew it, dinner had rolled around. As much as she wanted to skip it, she knew she couldn't. If she missed too many meals, Dolores Umbridge would most likely start poking around, which was something Minerva wanted to keep to a minimum.

She quickly scooped some papers into her arms, waved her wand to magically tidy up the classroom, and hurried out of the room. On her way to the Great Hall she stopped off at her office to drop the papers off, and then continued on as she stifled a yawn.

"Minerva, where were you at lunch?" a voice said behind her as she took her usual seat next to Albus. She turned to see Rolanda Hooch seated next to her, who wore a curious look upon her face.

"Stuck with paperwork," Minerva replied glumly, reaching out to place some food on her plate.

Rolanda shook her head. "Minerva, you need to slow down, and you shouldn't be skipping meals. Since you weren't there, I had to spend twenty minutes at lunch stuck talking to our favourite High Inquisitor," she said sarcastically. Minerva smirked lightly.

"You poor thing," she replied dryly. "Well, it wasn't too much of a picnic for me either. I swear, there are days where the deputy headmistress duties never seem to end."

"Is everything alright?" came a voice beside her, and she turned to the other side to see Albus eyeing her, a concerned expression upon his face.

"I'm fine, Albus, just a lot of work to catch up on," she said, and smiled reassuringly at him. Over his shoulder, she could see Dolores Umbridge talking in her shrill voice to Sybil Trelawney, who appeared less than interested. Minerva smirked to herself, and went back to her meal.

As she finished eating and rose from the table, her eyes drifted down over the chattering students, until they found Hermione Granger. She was sitting with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, both who were chatting animatedly. Hermione was quieter, adding into the conversation here and there, yet appearing to be more focused on her thoughts. Minerva smiled inwardly, and was about to turn away when Hermione glanced up at her. Minerva gave her a small smile, and mouthed _'later'_ to her. Hermione nodded slightly and smiled back, then turned back to her friends as Minerva swept out of the Great Hall.

Quite unknown to Minerva or Hermione, there were two others who noticed this slight exchange. Albus smiled to himself, glad that Minerva was developing a close bond with her favourite student, and simply went back to eating his meal. He didn't notice a couple seats down from him, where Dolores Umbridge narrowed her eyes slightly at the retreating form of Minerva, and fell silent much to the delight of Professor Trelawney.

Hermione subtly glanced down at her watch for the fourth time in the past ten minutes. It was nearly nine, and she didn't want to be late to her first Animagus training session.

"You right there Hermione?" Harry asked, who was seated close by playing a game of chess with Ron. "You look a little distracted."

Hermione nodded. "I'm fine. I think I might just pop down to the library, just need a little more info for 

an Arithmancy essay." She closed the book in her lap that she had been using to distract herself, and got to her feet.

"Do you want us to wait up for you?" Harry asked, and she smiled as she shook her head.

"Thanks, but I don't know how long I'll be. Good night guys," she said, picking up her bag and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Bye," Harry replied.

"Bye," Ron echoed, too engrossed in the chess game to properly pay attention.

_Well, that was easier than I thought to sneak away,_ Hermione thought to herself as she hurried out of the portrait hole and down the corridor. Although she was a prefect and allowed in the corridors, she stayed close to the shadows, not wanting to run into anyone.

Minerva sat at her desk, absorbed in grading the homework from yesterday's 5th year Gryffindor transfiguration class. Normally she would have graded it they day it was done, yet she simply hadn't found the time, and she had them first thing in the morning.

As she was almost finished marking the second last essay, there was a soft knock at the door. Minerva glanced at her watch, and realised it was a couple minutes to nine. She quickly got up and opened the door slightly, to be greeted by a hesitant Hermione.

"Miss Granger, please, come in," she said, as she opened the door wider to admit her student. Hermione slipped inside, and Minerva shut the door, taking care to place a strong locking and silencing charm on the door.

"Please, take a seat, I'm almost finished marking your class's homework," Minerva said, gesturing to the small sofa near the door, figuring it would be more comfortable for the girl rather than the hard wooden chair opposite her desk. She sat back down at her desk and picked up her quill, and then noticed Hermione was still standing.

"You're marking our homework, Professor?" Hermione enquired, looking slightly inquisitive. Minerva smiled.

"Don't forget, when we're in private like this call me Minerva," she said, "and yes, I'm almost finished. But before you ask, yes you passed, you got outstanding. The only one in the class, might I add."

Hermione grinned, and took a seat on the sofa as she lowered her bag to the ground. She patiently waited for Minerva to finish marking, taking the time to study the titles on the bookcase next to her.

After a final scribble, Minerva placed the quill down and shuffled the papers together. She then stood up and waved her wand, so that the desk moved up against the wall leaving a nice open space in the middle of the room.

"Alright, now before we start the practical, do you want to quickly review with me what theory you've learnt so far?" Minerva asked as she moved around to sit next to Hermione on the sofa.

Hermione began to talk through the different books and articles she had studied so far on becoming an Animagus, and Minerva marvelled to herself about the depth and complexity of the information Hermione was learning about. If Minerva had doubts before, she was certain that Hermione definitely wanted this.

When Hermione finished speaking, she raised her eyebrows expectantly at Minerva, unsure if she had learnt enough. Minerva didn't even need to ask what she was thinking.

"Excellent, you've gone further in depth into the material than I had expected, well done," she said, and Hermione glowed at the praise.

"Now, I think tonight, we'll focus on finding your form. This is the most important part to Animagi, and it isn't easy, so I don't want you to feel disappointed if you don't manage it tonight," Minerva said, standing up and moving into the middle of the room. Hermione rose to her feet and joined her professor, taking a slow breath to sooth her slight nerves.

"Okay, first you need to clear your mind. Don't think about anything other than what we're here for tonight, push all other thoughts away," Minerva instructed.

Hermione closed her eyes, and tried to do as she was told. Taking slow, deep breaths, she focused solely on the thought of becoming an Animagus, and slowly all other thoughts began to seep away. When she was ready, she opened her eyes and looked at Minerva confidently. "Okay, I'm ready," she said.

"Alright. There is a spell you need to cast, in order to find your inner animal, and it's not easy to manage. It takes extreme concentration. Now, watch my wand movements closely." Minerva withdrew her wand from her robes, and began to slowly demonstrate the intricate wand movements.

When Hermione was confident enough with the wand movement, Minerva told her the incantation that invoked the inner animal.

"Ready?" Minerva asked, and Hermione nodded in reply.

Hermione closed her eyes, and clearly called out the incantation as she made the wand movement.

Nothing happened.

"Right at the end of your wand movement, you flicked it upwards slightly. It needs to stay straight," Minerva coached, and Hermione tried again. She felt a slight tingle this time, but nothing happened.

"This takes a lot of practice until you get it right. Just keep trying," Minerva said encouragingly, as she studied her student's movements.

Hermione practiced over and over again, trying to be patient each time she failed. Minerva constantly said words of encouragement, which pushed Hermione to try that little bit harder each attempt.

Finally, after countless tries, Hermione reached deep inside and drew all of her magic out as she called out the incantation. Her want movement was perfect, and she felt her magic surge to her wand.

All of a sudden, a small white smoky form came out of her wand. She and Minerva stared at it closely with bated breath, as the smoke cleared and the form became clearer. Minerva recognised the animal almost immediately.

"Well, Hermione, the two of us are a lot more similar than I thought," Minerva said, smiling proudly at her student. "We both have a cat Animagus form."

Hermione gazed at the small feline form in the air before her, admiring the sleek fur and pointed ears. "Wow," was all she could say.

"You should feel very proud of yourself," Minerva said softly as she observed the cat form. "It isn't easy, yet you've managed to learn your form in a few short hours."

"Hours?" Hermione asked, glancing up at her teacher with a confused expression painted across her face.

Minerva chuckled lightly. "It's a quarter to midnight. I didn't realise either how quickly the time flew. Now, before I send you off to bed, would you care for a cup of tea with me?"

"That would be great thanks Minerva," replied Hermione, feeling slightly strange to be calling her professor by her given name. However, she figured it would feel strange for a short while, until she simply became used to it.

Whilst Hermione made herself comfortable on the small sofa, Minerva waved her wand and her desk moved back into place. Another wave of her wand, and a tray with a pot of tea and two cups appeared.

Minerva poured out two cups of tea. Handing one to Hermione, she took a seat on the sofa and the two began to chat. They started off talking about classes, and the upcoming Animagus training, however the conversation soon turned to more casual topics, like favourite authors, and holidays.

It wasn't until Hermione brought her hand up to stifle a yawn than Minerva next glanced at her watch.

"Merlin, it's twenty to one! No wonder you're yawning. I think it's time we went to bed," she said, quickly banishing the empty tea cups. They both rose to their feet and moved towards the door, yet Hermione reached out and lightly touched Minerva on the wrist.

"Um, Minerva, I just want to say…well, I really appreciate all this, you going to the effort to help me become an Animagus. I know what a large commitment I'm taking on, and to know that you're willing to give up your free time for me…well it means a lot. Thank you," Hermione said with her eyes down as she blushed furiously.

Touched by the kind words, Minerva pulled Hermione into a warm embrace, before drawing back at arm's length so she could look her in the eye. "You don't need to thank me, Hermione, of course I'd do this for you. You're a very special person to me, not to mention my best student, and it gives me pleasure to work with such a talented witch."

Both of the witches smiled at each other, and shared another quick hug.

"Alright, now let's get you back to Gryffindor so we can both get some rest," Minerva said as they withdrew, slightly relieved to ease the heavy emotion in the air.

She exited her office, and once Hermione followed out she waved her wand and locked up her office. The two started down the corridor, walking in comfortable silence. However, just as they turned into the corridor where the portrait of the Fat Lady resided, they were interrupted.

"My, my, what do we have here?" a high pitched, girlish voice said from the shadows, breaking the silence. Minerva stared into the darkness, and managed to make out the form of a smallish woman.

The figure moved into the flickering light from the lamps on the wall, and Hermione and Minerva could clearly see it was Dolores Umbridge. She wore a sneaky, delighted expression on her face that immediately made Minerva feel uneasy.

"A student out of bed, so late is it? My, this won't do, it is certainly against the rules," Dolores said slyly, narrowing her eyes at the young Gryffindor. Hermione gulped slightly, and took the tiniest of steps closer to Minerva. Thankfully, Dolores didn't notice this but Minerva did. She drew herself up to her full height, and looked down at Dolores.

"She was with me, and as I am a teacher here it makes it quite allowable, so she was breaking no rules that I am aware of," Minerva said steely, staring Dolores down.

"What would she be doing with you at a quarter to one in the morning?" Dolores asked, taking a step back away from Minerva.

"I believe that is none of your business," Minerva fumed, and placed a hand on Hermione's upper arm. "Now if you will excuse us, I will finish escorting Miss Granger back to her dormitory. Good evening, Dolores."

Minerva swept past her, guiding Hermione with her. She muttered the password to the Fat Lady, who swung open. Minerva followed Hermione inside the common room, then growled in frustration once the portrait closed.

"God, that woman! I swear, if Albus doesn't find a way to get rid of her soon, I'll strangle her myself!" she fumed, thankful that the common room was completely empty barring her and Hermione.

"Don't worry, she'll be gone by the end of the year," Hermione said, trying to lighten her teacher's mood. Minerva raised an eyebrow at the sentence, and Hermione smiled. "No teacher has lasted longer than a year in the Defence Against The Dark Arts position. According to Harry and Ron it's cursed, so hopefully that will mean next year the school will be back to normal."

"If she hasn't completely destroyed the school by then," Minerva replied darkly. She sighed, and shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't be complaining about staff members to you, it's completely unprofessional of me. I'm supposed to be the teacher, I can't complain to students."

"Don't apologize," Hermione said immediately. "I don't mind you venting to me, you can't keep everything bottled up. You can't be strong all the time, and I'm glad you trust me enough to be around to let your guard down."

Minerva placed a hand on her student's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Thanks Hermione. I know I can always count on you. I'm so proud of you. Now, you better get to bed, or you'll be too tired to concentrate in my class in the morning. You have Transfiguration first, right?"

Inwardly glowing from the compliment, it took Hermione a moment to realise what Minerva had asked. "Um, yes. Straight after breakfast."

"Okay, well get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning," Minerva said. "Good night."

"Good night," replied Hermione. She waited until her professor turned to leave, before she made her way up to her dormitory.

_**TBC**__…any suggestions, advice or ideas are appreciated. Thank you for the kind reviews_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Hermione rolled over in bed, and sleepily opened her eyes. Sunlight streamed through the window across her bed, and for once the dormitory was quiet. She lay still, enjoying the peace, until a thought crossed her mind.

_Wait, why would it be so quiet in the morning? Unless it's empty…_ Hermione sat straight up, and quickly scanned her eyes around the room. It was empty. She quickly checked her watch and realised that she had overslept, and breakfast had already started.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself, leaping out of bed and grabbing a towel. Bolting to the showers, she jumped in, jumped out and got dressed in record time. She then quickly pulled her hair back, shoved a few books in her bag and hurried out of the dormitory.

Walking down the stairs into the common room, there were several second years still there. They were huddled around the notice board, where there was a large piece of paper tacked up. Narrowing her eyes, she moved closer for a better look.

"God damn it!" she cursed as she read the paper, scaring the younger students who looked at her in fright and hurried away.' _That bloody Umbridge!_' she thought furiously, as she ripped down the newest decree stating teachers were strictly banned from discussing anything to students unless it related directly to coursework. She shoved it in her bag, and then hurried off to the Great Hal.

As she entered the Great Hall, she glanced up at the Head Table. Minerva was not there, she must have already eaten and left to prepare for class. Hermione stalked over to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to Ron

"Hey Her'ee" Ron greeted her, his mouth full.

"Morning Hermione. What time did you get in last night?" Harry asked as he poured himself a glass of juice.

"Not sure, maybe one," Hermione replied, grabbing a couple slices of toast and buttering them.

"How did you stay at the library so long, didn't Madame Pince lock up?" Ron asked, finally swallowing.

Hermione thought fast. "She did, but I got the books I needed out and just studied in an empty classroom, it was more peaceful that way," she lied, and the boys nodded.

Stealing a glance at her watch, she realised Transfiguration started in ten minutes. She quickly grabbed her bag in one hand and her toast in the other. "I'll meet you in class guys, I just want to check with Professor McGonagall about our homework, okay?"

The boys nodded and said their goodbyes, and Hermione made her way past the tables of chattering students and out of the Great Hall. Munching on her toast, she headed along the corridors until she reached the Transfiguration classroom, and quickly swallowed the last of her toast.

'_Good, she's the only one in here,'_ Hermione thought as she entered the classroom and saw that Minerva was the only occupant, seated at her desk reviewing some papers. At the sound of the footsteps, Minerva glanced up.

"Good morning, Hermione," she said warmly, smiling at her student.

"Good morning. Have you seen the latest decree?" Hermione asked, coming up to the teacher's desk and retrieving the sheet from her bag.

"Another one?" Minerva asked with a sigh, and she watched as Hermione slapped it down on the desk. Her eyes began to scan over it, and she began to frown as she took in the words.

When she finished reading it, Minerva closed her eyes and took several deep, slow breaths. When she opened her eyes, Hermione was staring at her with a concerned expression.

"I'm trying to calm myself down, so I don't do something I'll probably one day regret," she explained to her student, who smiled slightly.

"So, I guess I can't train to be an Animagus anymore then," Hermione said, a tinge of sadness to her voice.

Minerva reached across her desk and picked up Hermione's hand. "Of course you will. Our sessions are going to continue regardless of what decrees _that woman_ puts out. You're much more important to me than a few silly rules." She gave Hermione's hand a quick reassuring squeeze, who smiled gratefully at her.

"So will I still meet you in your office at 9pm every other night?" Hermione asked.

Minerva shook her head. "Not for the moment, I want to come up with a plan that will keep Dolores from finding out what we're doing. She'll see through extra coaching immediately, and there's not a chance she'd allow you to train to become an Animagus. Leave it with me, and somehow I'll let you know."

Hermione smiled, and began to speak when the sounds of chattering students approaching could be heard. Minerva gave Hermione's hand one last squeeze, then hastily released it. As Hermione hurried over to her desk, Minerva stood up and waited as the students entered the room and took their seats. A silence fell across the room, and Minerva began her lesson.

* * *

"Is everything alright, my dear?"

She was so lost in thought; it took a moment for the words to register in Minerva's mind. She shook her head and glanced next to her, where Albus sat peering at her, a concerned expression on his face.

Minerva smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, just a lot on my mind," she replied, picking her fork up and resuming eating. It had been three days since the new decree had come out, and Minerva still hadn't thought of a way for her and Hermione to safely train undetected. Sure, she had come up with several ideas, like a polyjuice potion so Hermione could move around the castle, but that would still be too risky. There was also the Room Of Requirement, a handy little room she had come across years ago when she was a fourth year student, but there was still the chance another staff member, student, or worse Dolores, could come in and find them. She highly doubted that there were no students who knew about that room.

"If there's anything concerning you, I hope you can trust me enough to tell me," Albus said gently, catching her hand under the table and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Of course I trust you Albus, you're my best friend," Minerva replied. Then a thought crossed her mind – yes, she could trust him…maybe he could help? "Actually Albus, I could use your advice," she said in a low voice, so only he could hear.

Intrigued, Albus leaned slightly closer and nodded.

"I can't tell you here, there are too many ears," Minerva said hastily, noticing Dolores eyeing her over Albus's shoulder. He nodded seriously.

"Come to my office tonight. We can have a game of chess and talk," he said, and she smiled at him gratefully. Casually, they returned to their dinner and began to chat about the upcoming quidditch game.

* * *

Minerva arrived outside Albus's office at approximately 10pm. "Acid pop," she whispered to the gargoyle, which promptly moved aside to admit her up the stairs. Higher and higher she climbed, until she reached the closed door and tapped softly.

"Come in Minerva," came Albus's voice through the door. She entered the room quickly, and when she turned back from closing the door she was greeted with the sight of a ready to play chess set and two steaming mugs.

"Earl grey tea for you, my dear," Albus said, his eyes twinkling as he took a seat on one side of the chess board.

"Oh bless you," Minerva replied, sitting down opposite him and taking a slow sip of the hot tea. He simply nodded slightly and they began to play.

About ten minutes had gone past of light banter as they played, when Albus decided to get to the point. "Alright Min, tell me what's on your mind."

The corners of Minerva's lips twitched slightly as she heard his pet name. Normally, she would kill anyone who tried to use a nickname for her, yet she and Albus had gone back for so long, she didn't mind. She took a slow breath.

"Okay, well as you've probably already figured out, I have bit of a problem…" Minerva began. She told him about how frustrating Dolores was getting, how she had to be on her toes every minute, how worried she was for the students' educations. She then went on to explain how she found Hermione in her classroom, their Animagus training plans, and the new decree.

"Oh Albus, you should have seen the look on Hermione's face when the new decree came out, she looked so disappointed! I know she's only in her fifth year, but she can do this, I know she can."

Albus smiled at his deputy over his half moon glasses. "I don't doubt the capability of Miss Granger at all. And I can hardly say no to you training her, since we were in the same position when I was your professor and you wanted to become an Animagus in your fourth year."

Minerva grinned at his approval. "So I just can't figure out a way to train Hermione without Dolores finding out. Dolores knows Hermione is too smart to need extra transfigurations coaching, and I don't want to risk her walking the hallways and getting caught."

Albus nodded slowly, and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Minerva sat silently, cursing in her mind the day Dolores Umbridge came to Hogwarts.

"I have an idea. Do you trust her enough to be willing to train her in your quarters?" Albus asked as his lips formed a smile. Minerva nodded her head to indicate yes. "Well," Albus continued, "there is an incantation that I can cast as Headmaster that can put a secret passageway that will go from the Gryffindor common room to your quarters. I can cast it so that it will be only visible to yourself and Miss Granger, that way she can come and go undetected. And it's better for you to do it in your rooms rather than your office or classroom as there is no possible way, magical or otherwise, for another teacher or student to get into a staff member's personal rooms without explicit permission."

Minerva grinned. "That's perfect. Oh, thank you Albus, Hermione will be so pleased. Are you sure you don't mind doing this for her?"

"Not at all, my dear," he replied, glad to see her happy for once. Personally, he thought she was working herself way too hard, however there wasn't a chance he was going to voice his concern and face the wrath of an angry Minerva.

The problem solved, they went back to their chess game, each feeling a little happier.

_**TBC…**__ thanks for all the kind reviews. Hope you have enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The following morning at breakfast, Minerva took her customary seat next to Albus. She grabbed a couple slices of toast and buttered them, hoping to have a quick breakfast so she could prepare for her next class.

Albus watched Dolores out of the corner of his eye, and when he could see she was distracted he leaned closer to Minerva. "It's all set up. Password is tabby," he whispered, making Minerva strain her ears to catch what he said.

"Thank you Albus," Minerva replied just as quietly. They shared a quick smile, then resumed eating.

Chewing her last piece of toast, Minerva stood up and turned to leave, ensuring her back was to Dolores. She stole a quick peek down at the Gryffindor table, where Hermione just happened to be glancing up. Minerva caught her eye, and gave an almost imperceptible wink. Hermione nodded slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching, and she turned back to her meal.

Minerva swept out of the Great Hall, off to organise herself for her first class of the day.

* * *

_Finally, transfigurations,_ Hermione thought to herself much later that day. It was her last class of the day, and she was eager to find out what Minerva meant through that wink.

Hermione took her seat next to Harry and Ron, who were talking to themselves. They quietened immediately when Minerva entered the classroom.

"All right class, today we will be working on transfiguring mice into wine goblets. The instructions," she said, as she waved her wand at the blackboard behind her, "are on the board. Mr Weasley, please come up and hand out the mice. Whilst he does this I will be passing back your homework from your last lesson. Although your marks are still not as high as they should be for your OWLs, they are slowly improving. You may begin."

Ron came to the front and collected the box of mice from her desk. As he began to pass them out to the class, Minerva picked up a stack of parchments and made her way towards the students' desks. One by one, she handed the assignments back to their owners, being careful to leave Hermione to last.

Finally, she got to Hermione. "Outstanding work, Miss Granger," she said quietly, placing the paper on her students' desk. Hermione looked up at her, and extremely subtly Minerva nodded at the paper. Hermione caught on and nodded back, just as subtly, and Minerva moved up to her desk.

Hermione began to transfigure her mouse into a wine goblet, and before long she had successfully finished. She stole a glance at Harry and Ron, who were both busy attempting to transfigure their own mice – somewhat unsuccessfully. Certain they were not paying the slightest bit of attention, she turned to the parchment that Minerva had placed on her desk.

There were two pages. The first was her homework, with a large O at the top in red ink. Hermione smiled slightly to herself, and then turned her attention to the second page. It appeared to be a letter. Stealing another glance around her to ensure no one was paying attention, she began to read.

_Miss Granger,_

_I have spoken to Professor Dumbledore about our plans for your training, and he has been able to come up with a solution for us. The next time you go into the Gryffindor common room, you will notice a new door, which is located in the far left corner. It is completely invisible to everyone except us, and only you can be admitted. The password is 'tabby'. It will take you directly to my living room – it is safest to continue your training in my quarters, I hope you do not mind this. If you are willing, we shall continue your training this evening, at 11pm. Should the common room still be occupied at this time, just wait until it is safe for you to come through the door undetected. I will be waiting._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

Minerva noticed Hermione finish reading and glance up at her. Hermione nodded slightly, and Minerva smiled to herself. She then moved towards the students at their desks to check up on each person's progress.

* * *

At five minutes to eleven, Hermione glanced up around the common room. Noticing it was completely empty, she smiled to herself and closed her Ancient Runes book. Quickly, she moved over to the new door and whispered "Tabby." A doorknob appeared and she quickly entered through the door.

A minute later, Hermione reached the other end of the door. Hesitating slightly, she tapped softly against the wood.

"Come in Hermione," came a voice from inside, and Hermione entered to find her professor sitting on a comfortable looking sofa, reading a Transfiguration book. Hermione took a quick moment to take in the new surroundings.

The living room was decorated in deep reds and gold – quite fitting for the Head of Gryffindor. The walls were a deep mahogany wood, which contrasted beautifully against the gold coloured carpet. The lounge which Minerva rested upon was a rich maroon, decorated with gold pillows, and in front of the sofa was a mahogany coffee table.

"Good evening, Hermione, I'm glad you made it," Minerva said warmly, closing her book and placing it on the coffee table "Come in, make yourself comfortable."

Hermione moved further into the room, and placed her bag on the floor. She took a seat on the sofa next to Minerva and smiled hesitantly at her teacher, still getting used to the more personal friendship she and Minerva were having lately.

"Before we start, do you mind doing this in my quarters?" Minerva asked.

"No, its fine, as long as you don't mind, after all it is _your_ quarters," Hermione replied.

"For you, Hermione, I don't mind at all. Now, shall we begin with your training?" Minerva asked, getting to her feet. Hermione mimicked her actions, and they both stood opposite each other in the middle of the room. "Alright, so you know your form. Let's get you started on transforming. It will take a while, and you will require your wand, then we'll move onto wandless transformations, like I do."

"Okay, sounds good," Hermione agreed. She drew out her wand, and Minerva began to demonstrate the intricate wand movements for Animagi.

Two hours or so later, Hermione had managed, with her wand, for whiskers to appear on her face. Hermione was slightly disappointed in herself, as she had hoped to get further in her transformation. Due to her high observation skills, Minerva picked up on this.

"Hermione, you should be feeling very proud of yourself right now," she said gently, as she conjured two cups of tea and handed one to her student. "Learning to become an Animagus is a very lengthy process; it won't happen in a few lessons. It takes hours and hours of extensive training, so it may take months. So what you have achieved tonight, that is excellent for your first session."

Hermione, who had sat back down on the sofa, glanced up into her professor's eyes. She could see the sincerity behind Minerva's eyes; she knew she wasn't just saying it to spare her feelings, and this cheered Hermione up considerably. She shared a smile with Minerva, who took a seat next to her with her tea.

The two began to chat, starting off with simple subjects, like Hogsmeade and classes, but they slowly began to chat about more personal things. Normally, Minerva would never allow herself to get this close to a student, it was a strict rule of hers. Yet, here she was socialising with a student – in her 

personal quarters no less – and she was enjoying herself. She hadn't realised how close Hermione had gotten to her heart.

When the conversation lulled, Hermione stretched out, and glanced at her watch. "Well, as much as I've been enjoying myself, I better go back to my dorm," she said. "It's nearly two in the morning."

Minerva's eyes widened. "Merlin, I had no idea it was that late," she exclaimed. "We have a habit of letting time slide, don't we?"

Hermione chucked lightly as they got to their feet. Minerva banished the mugs, and then gave Hermione a hug.

"Good night Hermione," she said, withdrawing from the embrace.

"Good night Minerva," replied the young girl, and she turned to go through the passageway back to the common room, content after a successful evening.

_A/N – Bit of a slow chapter, I know, but necessary for later chapters. Any tips, suggestions or ideas, please feel free to let me know! __**TBC…**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Over the next three weeks, Minerva and Hermione continued their training sessions every two or three nights. On the chosen nights Minerva would retire to her quarters by 9pm, and get comfortable with a book, or start some marking. Anytime after that, Hermione would wait until it was safe to slip away unnoticed from the common room, and go through the secret passage to Minerva's rooms. They would then spend a few hours training, followed by tea and a long chat.

By this point, Hermione had managed to grow fur on her face, pointed ears and a set of very sharp claws. Each time she cast the spell, her eyes would also turn a deep shade of green. Minerva was pleased with her progress, as was Hermione. They were also getting closer, becoming more friends than teacher and student. Hermione was opening up more, talking about her worries regarding her friends, even her diminished relationship with her parents, something she hadn't even talked to Harry and Ron about. Minerva listened, gave advice, and simply cared, which was what Hermione needed most but lacked in her friendships with Harry and Ron. She loved the two boys to death, but that was the thing – they were boys.

Minerva also opened up as well. She would talk to Hermione about her own life as a student at Hogwarts, which Hermione loved hearing about. She also opened up to a few fears and worries of her own, mainly about the students and the future of Hogwarts with Dolores hanging around. In return, Hermione offered a different view and sympathy, but more importantly, a listening ear.

Despite the fact that they were becoming closer friends, they couldn't let it show outside of their training sessions. However, Minerva would sit a little straighter when another professor spoke of her in the staff room, and Hermione would get slightly defensive when she would hear another student say a bad word about Professor McGonagall. If they caught each other's eyes, they would share a friendly smile, before Hermione would turn back to her friends and Minerva would resume her strict teaching façade.

Albus noticed these subtle changes, yet it made him glad to see it. He thought that Minerva and Hermione being friends was doing a world of good to each of the women, and they were each appearing slightly less tense in which was turning out to be quite a stressful year.

However, Dolores Umbridge was also noticing the slight closeness between Minerva and Hermione, and she was extremely annoyed. Somehow, they were getting around her decree, and were undoubtedly plotting some way to undermine her.

An opportunity arose for her in the fifth year Defence Against the Dark Arts class. She had assigned a chapter in the book to read through during class, and for homework to summarise the chapter in a one foot essay. The entire class began their reading, whereas Hermione pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and began to write. Dolores moved in front of her desk and stared down at the student.

"What do you think you are doing, Miss Granger?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice. Hermione looked up, and tried not to shudder at the sight of Dolores up close.

"My summary of the chapter," Hermione replied. "That you assigned to us?"

"Clearly, you do not pay attention to instructions. I specifically said to read this chapter today, and complete the summary for homework," Professor Umbridge replied with a slight smirk.

"But I've already read the chapter," Hermione argued, trying to stay calm.

"Talking back to me now, are you? Perhaps a detention with me will teach you to mind your manners and follow instructions." Umbridge's smirk grew as an indignant look passed over Hermione's face. "Please Miss Granger, say some more. Make it a week's worth of detentions."

Hermione took a slow breath, and refused to bite. It made her feel slightly better when Umbridge's smirk turned sour.

"My office, 8pm tonight. Do not be late." Umbridge turned her back on Hermione and made her way to the front of the classroom, ignoring the many dirty looks being sent her way by the other Gryffindor students.

Hermione spent the rest of the lesson fuming silently to herself, then stormed out the second class was dismissed. She did not say a single word until she, Harry and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch.

"God, that bloody woman! She's such a _bitch!_" Hermione growled, snatching up a sandwich and taking a huge bite.

Harry gave Hermione a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "We know, just don't let her get to you in detention or it'll be worse. She'll try to provoke you, but try to ignore it and do the lines."

"Yeah, we'll have the essence of murlap waiting for you," Ron added in as he started in on his own lunch.

"Thanks guys," Hermione replied, glad to have such caring friends. Yet her mind quickly began to wander, and a thought occurred to her. She wouldn't be able to make her Animagus training session that night with Minerva. Hermione sighed to herself, which the boys simply took as annoyance about her detention.

_At least we have transfiguration after lunch,_ Hermione thought to herself as she finished off her sandwich. She sat patiently as the two boys ate their lunch, and together they walked to the Transfigurations classroom.

Minerva was already at the front of her classroom when the trio arrived, and straight away Minerva could tell Hermione was upset about something. However, she waited patiently for the rest of the class to arrive, before getting to her feet at the front.

"All right class, I want you to copy the notes on the board about cross species transfiguration. Once you have done this, come to the front and collect a lizard, and begin transfiguring it into a mouse."

Minerva waved her wand, and set of notes appeared on the board. She took her seat at her desk as the class began withdrawing parchment and quills. She observed them silently as they wrote, until Hermione set her quill down and stood up. Minerva had hoped she would finish first.

"Are you alright, is anything wrong?" Minerva muttered quietly to Hermione as she reached the desk to collect her lizard. Hermione had to strain her ears to hear what she said.

"Physically, yes. But we really need to talk, before tonight," Hermione replied just as quietly. Minerva gave a slight, imperceptible nod, and Hermione returned to her table.

Minerva eyed her watch the entire lesson until the bell rang, signalling the end of class. The students packed up their belongings and began to file out of the classroom as Minerva cleaned the board. She watched the students leave out of the corner of her eye, and just as Hermione was about to leave with Ron and Harry, Minerva wandlessly and almost silently cast a quick spell.

Hermione's bag split open at the seams, causing several heavy books to fall out. Feeling that Minerva was behind it, Hermione gave a loud sigh and turned to her friends. "You guys better go to Herbology, just tell Professor Sprout that I'm coming," she told them, relieved when they nodded and exited the classroom, leaving Hermione alone with Minerva.

Minerva quickly cast a silencing spell and knelt down next to Hermione.

"You looked pretty upset at the start of class. What's wrong?" Minerva asked sincerely, as she helped Hermione gather her books.

"I can't come to training tonight. I have detention with Umbridge," Hermione replied. "I didn't even deserve it. She was stretching for reasons to put me in detention, and it just doesn't feel right. Minerva, what if she knows something?"

Minerva bit her lip slightly thinking. "She can't know anything; we've taken extremes to stop her from finding out. She might just think you're up to something, or is still suspicious from finding us in the hallway together in the middle of the night several weeks ago. Promise me, you'll be careful tonight."

"I promise," Hermione said. She quickly repaired her bag, and stuffed the books inside.

"Do you want to come to my rooms after detention still? You're more than welcome still," Minerva offered as they both stood up.

Hermione could detect a trace of worry in her teacher's voice, and gave a soft smile. She was about to agree, when the sight of Harry's hand, bleeding from words etched into the skin, flashed into her mind. She wasn't about to let Minerva see that. "No, who knows what time I'll get out, it might be too late," she replied. "Can we make it tomorrow night?"

Minerva nodded. "Of course. Now you better get moving, or you'll be getting a detention from Professor Sprout too."

_A/N – Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon. Any ideas or advice is always appreciated…__**TBC**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

That evening at promptly 8pm, Hermione knocked on the office door of Professor Umbridge.

"Come in," came a sickly sweet voice from inside, and Hermione pushed open the door to be greeted by pink. Harry had already warned her about the office décor, yet she hadn't expected it to be quite so… garish.

"Take a seat, Miss Granger," Umbridge said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. "You will be writing lines. You will write 'I must do as I am told' until I say you have done enough."

Hermione remained silent, and sat at the desk. She picked up the quill and began to write her first sentence. As soon as the tip of the quill touched the parchment, her hand seared with pain and she could see the words slicing into her flesh.

Umbridge was watching her carefully, so Hermione made no indication of pain. She began to write over and over, ignoring Umbridge who then took a seat opposite her and began to grade papers.

About two hours into Hermione's detention, Umbridge broke the silence.

"You know, Miss Granger, you are a good student," she began.

Hermione tensed slightly. Umbridge wouldn't be giving her a compliment without a hidden agenda. She continued to write, but alert to what may be said next.

"In fact, some would say you're too smart, for a muggle born student," Umbridge continued on, not noticing Hermione's grip tighten on her quill. "It does make one wonder how you have gotten to learn so much about the wizarding world."

Umbridge eyed the young girl before her, waiting for a reaction, yet Hermione didn't even blink.

"Some would even go so far as to think you would disregard rules to broaden your knowledge," she continued, frowning at Hermione's lack of interest. Time to change tactics.

"What are you and Minerva McGonagall plotting?" she suddenly said, leaning close to Hermione.

Hermione felt a slight flash of fear, yet managed to keep it from showing on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Professor," she replied calmly.

"Don't play dumb with me, girl. You and Professor McGonagall are up to something, aren't you? You're working together to get me out of this school, so she can take over my position as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, isn't that right!"

Hermione tried not to laugh at the ridiculous accusation. She felt somewhat relieved however, as Umbridge didn't know what she and Minerva were doing. However, she had noticed that Hermione and Minerva had gotten up to _something,_ which meant that they would need to be a lot more careful when in the public eye.

"I can assure you that that is not true," Hermione replied just as calmly. "I only talk to Professor McGonagall about Transfiguration." This was only a partial lie; Animagus was a branch of Transfiguration, yet Umbridge definitely didn't need to know about their late night conversations after their training.

Frustrated with the lack of information she was getting, Umbridge sighed and sat back in her chair. Hermione continued to write lines, for what seemed like forever, until Umbridge finally told her she could leave.

Hermione walked out of the room, then rushed back to the Gryffindor Common room. As soon as she entered, she heard her name being called.

Harry and Ron sat in armchairs around the fire. Harry held up a bottle of Murtlap essence, and Hermione hurried over gratefully. Her hand was stinging, and when she glanced down she could see blood oozing from the etches.

"What are you guys still doing up? It's one in the morning!" Hermione asked them, as she poured the essence into a small bowl. She lowered her hand into the liquid, and sighed in relief as the pain vanished.

"We said we'd wait up for you, didn't we?" Harry asked her. "How did it go?"

"Ugh, it went fine, if that's what you call this," Hermione replied, motioning to her hand. "She tried to goad me into saying stuff, but I just ignored her and kept writing."

Ron gave a low whistle. "Bet she didn't like that one bit," he said.

The three friends sat up for a bit longer, until Hermione's hand had ceased bleeding. She conjured a bandage and quickly wrapped up her hand. They then bid each other a good night, and left to go to their respective dormitories.

* * *

The following evening at a little bit past ten o'clock, Hermione managed to slip through the secret doorway in the common room. She hurried down the passageway, eager to continue her Animagus lessons.

"Good evening Hermione," Minerva greeted warmly, closing her book and getting to her feet as Hermione entered. "How was your detention last night?"

Hermione nervously tugged the sleeve of her robes down a little further. She had removed the bandage, yet the words were still slightly visible on her skin. "Uh, it went fine," she lied, feeling guilty for lying to Minerva. "I just wrote lines."

"Did she try to start anything?" Minerva asked.

"She actually brought you up. She wanted to know if you and I were plotting to get her taken out of the school, so you could get her Undersecretary position," Hermione replied.

Minerva began to laugh, a beautiful sound that Hermione had rarely heard. "Oh, she's so conceited, yet so brainless," she said, shaking her head. "But I suppose she must have noticed the way we have been interacting lately. We need to be careful."

Hermione nodded, and they began training again. In two hours of solid training, Hermione had managed to get her teeth to grow pointed and the tip of her nose pink.

"Great, you're doing so well," Minerva complimented, as she conjured up their customary cups of tea. Hermione grinned at the compliment and took her seat on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her body to get more comfortable.

Minerva moved to hand Hermione a cup of tea, and Hermione realised too late that she was reaching out with the wrong hand. The sleeve of her robe slipped, causing the red marks that spelt the words 'I must do what I am told' to shine brightly against her pale skin.

Minerva gasped, spilling half of the tea onto the carpet. Hermione hastily withdrew her arm and yanked her sleeve down, but the damage was already done. Minerva quickly put the tea cups down on the coffee table and sat on the sofa close to Hermione.

"Let me see your hand," she said slowly in a no-nonsense voice. Reluctantly, Hermione brought her hand forward. Minerva gently held her hand, and pushed her sleeve up to reveal the words etched into her skin. "She's making you use a blood quill," Minerva stated disbelievingly.

Hermione nodded slightly, and felt a pang of guilt at the hurt expression that flashed across her teacher's face.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me she did this? Do you not trust me?" Minerva asked softly, internally berating herself for letting this happen to her favourite student.

"Of course I trust you!" Hermione exclaimed. "I care about you too. That's why I couldn't tell you. If you try do something to stop this, she'll bring in another decree or something, and have you sent from the school! She already has Trelawney and Hagrid on probation, who knows what she'll do to you."

Minerva was torn between anger at Dolores for doing this to Hermione, and feeling touched that Hermione cared so much about her.

"Hermione, I appreciate that you were thinking of me, but you can't let another person, a teacher no less, do something like this to you. I can take care of myself, it will take more than that woman to send me out of Hogwarts," Minerva replied gently. "I may not be able to overrule her, but Albus can, so I'll talk to him about it. And I hope you know, I do love my job, but I care about you and your safety more."

Hermione leaned forward, throwing her arms around Minerva's neck. The older woman was slightly surprised, yet quickly brought her arms to encase the younger girl's back and returned the hug.

They remained like that for a couple moments, and withdrew. Minerva could tell that Hermione was slightly embarrassed by her display of affection, so to spare the girl she got to her feet.

"Now let me see what I can do about those marks," Minerva said, motioning Hermione to follow. She led the way through a door, which turned out to be her bedroom, and into the bathroom. As Minerva rummaged around in a cabinet above the sink, Hermione gazed around at the bedroom. It was done in black and white, with a beautiful white silk quilt and half a dozen fluffy pillows on the bed. An intricately carved wooden chest stood at the foot of the bed, and Hermione admired the delicate handiwork from where she stood.

"Here we go," Minerva announced, drawing Hermione's attention back to her. She pulled a small bottle out of the cabinet, along with a couple of cotton balls. She poured a small amount of liquid onto the cotton, and held her hand out.

Warily eyeing the bottle, Hermione placed her hand into her teachers waiting palm. Ever so gently, Minerva began to wipe the cotton balls over her hand, ensuring all the marks were covered. To Hermione's surprise, it didn't sting at all, and before her very eyes the words began to vanish from her hand, until all was left was smooth creamy skin.

"Thanks so much, that's so much better," Hermione said, running a finger over her now clear skin. "What was that?"

"Just something I made," Minerva replied as she put the bottle away in the cabinet. "It's a variation of a healing potion, but I changed a few ingredients around. Quite a useful lotion, it is."

They headed back out of the bathroom into Minerva's bedroom. As Hermione walked past a tall chest of drawers, her attention was caught by an array of picture frames. Minerva noticed this and smiled.

"You're more than welcome to look Hermione," she said, grinning at Hermione's blush at being caught. She doubled back from the doorway and stood next to the drawers, prompting Hermione to come closer and study the photographs.

The first one was a photo of a group of people. "That's the original Order Of The Phoenix," Minerva informed her, smiling sadly at the photograph. Hermione studied the faces, and located Dumbledore, Moody, even a couple which looked like Harry's parents. She couldn't find Minerva however.

"Are you in it?" she asked inquisitively.

Minerva pointed to a tiny cat, sitting in the corner of the picture at the feet of Albus. "I had gone on a mission that week and got injured, and I had a scar on my face. I refused to have a picture taken when I looked like that, so Albus suggested me to transform, which I did."

Hermione nodded with a smile, and moved onto the next photo. It appeared to be Minerva with her parents and three boys who Hermione guessed to be her older brothers. She only looked about ten years old, yet already looked mature for her age.

The next photo was of Minerva, when she was a student, holding a broomstick in one hand and the Quidditch Cup in the other. She was surrounded by six other students, all in quidditch robes, grinning madly. Hermione mainly focused on Minerva, who looked considerably different with her long ebony hair flowing loose and an exuberant smile on her face.

"You should wear your hair down more often," Hermione commented as she moved to the next photo. Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"And how, may I ask, would I retain the respect of my students?" she teased. "Besides, it's too long, it's not practical to wear it out."

Hermione shrugged with a slight smile, already focusing her attention on another picture of three women – Madame Pomfrey, Minerva and Madame Hooch.

"Albus took that photo at a Christmas party several years ago," Minerva remarked, smiling at the memory. The women were each holding up a cocktail and smiling merrily at the camera. Again, Minerva's hair was down, yet Hermione decided not to comment. She simply smiled at the snapshot and glanced at the next one. It was a beautiful shot of Minerva and Albus, from last year's Yule Ball. Someone had taken it as they were dancing at the start of the ball, and the happy pair in the picture waltzed around the frame.

The last photo on the dresser made Hermione drop her mouth open slightly, but then smile happily. It was a picture of herself, Minerva, Tonks, Remus and Sirius, all carefree and relaxed. The setting was in the living room of Grimmauld Place, and Hermione had gotten comfortable on the sofa next to Minerva, each holding a book. The two photographic figures were not reading however, but chatting to each other. Tonks, Remus and Sirius were spread out on the floor next to them, playing a game of Exploding Snap.

Hermione could remember the occasion; it was during the summer at Grimmauld Place. Harry, Ginny, Ron and the twins had gone outside to go flying on their brooms; however Hermione had opted to stay inside. She hated flying.

"I remember that," Hermione said slowly, reaching up and running her finger down the side of the frame. Minerva glanced to the photo and smiled. "But I don't remember getting a photo taken of us."

"Do you remember how Albus came into the room?" Minerva asked, watching Hermione's confused expression as she nodded. "Well, he told me later it was such a nice scene that he had walked into, so he put the memory into his pensive and cast a charm that creates a photograph out of a memory."

Hermione's eyes widened slightly. "There's a charm to do that?"

"Yes, but you need to have a pensive handy," Minerva replied. "And it's quite a complicated spell. But he did it, and gave it to me on my birthday." She smiled fondly at the photograph. Hermione turned away from the photos, and they headed back out into the living room.

Minerva cast a quick reheating charm on their forgotten cups of tea, and steam promptly began to rise out of the cups. They sat back down on the sofa and Minerva entertained Hermione with stories from the photographs, until they had finished their beverages.

After they had bid each other goodnight, Hermione left to go back to the common room. Minerva banished the empty cups, and then walked into her bedroom. She pulled open the chest of drawers 

and retrieved her nightwear. As she closed the drawer, her eye caught the last photo frame. She smiled softly, then moved away to get ready for bed.

_A/N – This was a bit fluffier. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon. Any ideas or advice is always appreciated…__**TBC**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The next few weeks were quite hectic, even for a magical school. Hermione had organised an interview between Harry and Rita Skeeter, for the Quibbler. When the interview was finally printed, Umbridge was livid, and she immediately posted up a new decree stating the Quibbler was from then on banned from the school.

Although Hermione hadn't spoken a word about it during their training sessions, Minerva knew she had been the one behind it. And she couldn't have been more proud of her students for standing up to their beliefs.

In retaliation, a week later Umbridge sacked Professor Trelawney, right in front of all the staff and students. Minerva managed to get herself moved higher on Dolores's list of enemies by standing up for Sybil, despite the fact she was one of Minerva's least favourite staff members, not to mention she despised Divination. To replace Sybil, Albus had hired Firenze, a centaur, which left Dolores seething. There was nothing she could do about it, a fact that gave Minerva a tiny bit of satisfaction.

The following morning after the sacking of Professor Trelawney, Albus surprised Minerva outside her door as she was just walking out to go to breakfast.

"Albus! You startled me, I wasn't expecting you to be right outside my rooms," Minerva said, getting a shock as she literally walked straight into him as she exited her room.

"It's quite all right, my dear," he replied, the usual twinkle evident in his eyes. "I was hoping that I could possibly escort a lovely lady such as yourself to breakfast this fine morning?"

Minerva chuckled at his exaggerated chivalry, and accepted his proffered arm. "Why, thankyou Albus. Quite a nice surprise, I must say."

The two began to walk away from Minerva's rooms towards the Great Hall in silence for several moments, each enjoying the silence. However, Albus soon spoke up.

"Min, I just wanted to thank you," he began slowly, causing her to glance up at him in surprise.

"Whatever for?" she asked.

"Just the way you handled the events yesterday, while I was out speaking to Firenze. I know how much you and Sybil, er…don't get along, yet you really looked after her and stood up to Dolores. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful deputy," he said, giving her a warm smile.

Minerva blushed, hoping the students they passed in the corridor didn't notice. "It was nothing Albus, really. Besides, if there's any way I can irritate our dear High Inquisitor, all the more willing I am."

Albus chuckled, and they continued on their way to the Great Hall in light banter. The entire way, Minerva inwardly glowed from the praise he had given her. When they reached the Head table and took their usual seats, Minerva's happiness turned to smug satisfaction, as she caught the fuming glance that Umbridge was sending Sybil.

Fairly soon, the Great hall had almost completely filled with students when the post arrived. Minerva couldn't help but notice a tawny owl that few directly to Hermione, who was seated as usual with Harry and Ron.

Minerva watched curiously as Hermione took the envelope. As her eyesight was better than most other people thanks to her Animagus form, Minerva could just see a stamp in the corner of the envelope – clearly a muggle letter. Most likely a letter from her parents, Minerva assumed, and turned her attention to Rolanda Hooch seated next to her, who had just asked her a question. In doing so, she missed seeing the flash of pain that crossed Hermione's face as she scanned the letter.

* * *

That evening, Hermione went to Minerva's rooms. They hadn't had a training session in about four days, as Minerva had been too busy. Finally being able to find some free time, Minerva let Hermione know by slipping her a note in class whilst the rest of the class was busy with their transfigurations.

"Good evening Hermione, how are you?" Minerva greeted her warmly as Hermione entered her rooms.

"Good evening Minerva. I'm fine thanks, and yourself?" Hermione replied.

"I'm good, now anyway. It's been such a chaotic week," said Minerva as she moved into the middle of the room. Hermione followed, and they began going through the training.

Although she was making progress, Minerva could tell that Hermione wasn't trying her hardest. Something was bothering her, yet Minerva knew her well enough to know she wouldn't come out and say it. Since the direct approach wouldn't work, Minerva would have to do some digging.

After a couple hours of training, Minerva performed her usual routine of conjuring up tea for them whilst Hermione got comfortable of the couch. After taking a sip of the scalding tea, Minerva began to make conversation, subtly asking Hermione questions about everything. The young girl, not noticing anything, answered them, yet managed to avoid talking about her family. Minerva had the feeling that was upsetting her, so she carefully broached the subject.

"So, are you looking forward to going home for Easter?" she asked casually, taking a sip of her tea.

Hermione froze slightly, then acted like nothing was wrong. "Uh, actually, I'm staying at Hogwarts for Easter," she replied, avoiding eye contact.

Minerva thought for a moment. "You didn't go home for the Christmas holidays either, did you? Is everything okay at home?"

"Um, everything's fine," Hermione answered. Minerva could tell she wasn't telling the truth, and put her mug down on the coffee table. She shifted closer to Hermione on the sofa, and gently placed a hand on the young girl's knee.

"Hermione, I understand if you really don't want to talk about it, but if something's bothering you, you can talk to me about it," she said gently. "I care about you, and I hope you can trust me."

Hermione glanced into her mentor's eyes, and saw the sincerity behind her words. She sighed gently. "I haven't been getting along with my parents," she said softly, eyes down. "I just got a letter from them this morning, saying they think it would be best if I stay at Hogwarts during the holidays, they don't want me at home." A small tear formed in her eye, threatening to fall. "I've never gotten along with them, for as long as I can remember. They think I'm too boring and not sophisticated enough. They act like I'm a waste of space, and it's gotten worse since coming to Hogwarts. I've known they have only really just tolerated me on holidays, that's why I spend so much time at the Burrow or Grimmauld Place, but they've never actually told me that they don't want me to come home…until now."

Minerva's maternal instincts began to kick in. She reached out to take Hermione's tea, sitting it next to her, and then scooted over on the couch and pulled Hermione into a hug. As she held her student, she mentally cursed Hermione's parents in her mind. How could two people treat their daughter so poorly? And to Hermione Granger, one of the most gifted students Hogwarts had seen in a while, no less?

The younger girl was slightly stiff at first, yet soon relaxed into the hug, bringing her arms around Minerva's back and clinging on tightly. After several moments, Minerva could feel Hermione crying softly onto her shoulder. She brought one hand up and began to gently run her fingers through Hermione's hair.

"Why don't they want me? Am I really that bad a daughter?" Hermione whispered into her mentor's shoulder.

Upon hearing these words, Minerva felt a sharp pang in her heart for the girl. She withdrew slightly so she could look her in the eyes. "Hermione, don't ever think for a moment that it could be your fault. You are such a beautiful, intelligent, wonderful young woman, filled with promise and potential. I know I'm not your mother, yet I am more proud of you than you could possibly imagine. If your parents can't see what I see in you, then they don't deserve you."

Minerva moved her hand to Hermione's cheek and gently used the pad of her thumb to brush away the shiny tear trails. She gazed into the younger woman's sad brown eyes.

"I don't want to go back there anyway, it's not home to me. Hogwarts has been more my home anyway for the past five years. But when summer comes, I'll have nowhere to go, I don't know what to do," Hermione replied, reaching up to wipe away a stray tear.

"Oh sweetheart, I promise I would never let you end up on the streets or anything," Minerva responded gently. "If you don't want to go back to your parents, I won't make you. I would never let you be without a place to go, you're more than welcome to stay with me during the summer…that is, only if you wanted to," she added nervously, somewhat unsure of herself.

Hermione glanced up at Minerva, slightly hopeful. "Do you mean that? I mean, you wouldn't really want a student staying with you in your time off."

"Hermione, I think the two of us have gotten a lot closer than just professor and student, so I don't think of it like that. And although I really shouldn't have a favourite student, you're very special to me. It would be a pleasure to have you stay with me. Not to mention, the company would be nice," replied Minerva.

"I would love that…but is it allowed? I don't just mean the decree, but isn't there an actual rule about it?" Hermione asked hesitantly. She didn't want to get her hopes up yet; only to have them brought crashing down.

"There is definitely a rule banning teachers and students from a romantic relationship, yet I dare say that doesn't affect us. It gets a bit fuzzy concerning teachers and students outside of Hogwarts, but I know if I speak to Albus he won't mind. He was the one who set up the passage way between here and the common room, after all," Minerva said, smiling lightly at the surprised expression on Hermione's face. "Either way," Minerva continued, "I will ensure that if you did want to you can stay with me. I would never send you back to your parents when it's that bad. So really, the decision is yours."

Hermione didn't need to think about her decision. She leaned forward, pulling Minerva into another embrace. "Minerva…you have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you so much."

The two separated, sharing a warm smile. They picked their tea up and resumed sipping at it, whilst Minerva told Hermione about her summer home. Hermione listened intently, however she couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips. This was the happiest she had been in a while.

_**TBC…**_

_So, still fairly fluffy, I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to all my reviewers, your support has been fantastic. Again, any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me. I have slightly changed what I originally posted to improve from a review. More to come soon_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The next few training sessions, Minerva noticed quite an improvement in Hermione's mood; she seemed much more cheerful. Minerva didn't realise how much the problem with her parents had been upsetting Hermione, since the girl bottled her emotions away. Minerva then promised herself to be more observant around her.

The training was going well, and Hermione now not only had the ears, teeth, nose, eyes, tail and claws of a cat, she had also managed to grow fur on most of her body. She was determined to become an Animagus by the end of the school year, and was now training with double the effort.

However, the school was not running so smoothly. As if there hadn't been enough dramas in the past few weeks, Umbridge managed to catch Harry out in running a secret defence group. Although having to appear disapproving, Minerva was so proud of her students for putting their safety and schooling first, and taking the initiative to learn what Umbridge wouldn't teach. She had to make a mental note to congratulate Hermione for getting away with it for so long.

The biggest downside was that Albus took the rap for it. Minerva respected him highly for it, for taking the responsibility to protect the future of the students, but it came at a heavy price. He was subsequently fired, and Umbridge and several Ministry officials tried to take him to Azkaban. It resulted in Albus disappearing, and Umbridge taking over as Headmistress.

After ensuring Harry got back to the Gryffindor Common room safely, Minerva headed to her office to collect some essays, so she could take them to her quarters and mark them there which was more comfortable. On the way however, she paused at the start of a corridor, which happened to lead past the gargoyle that led the way to the Headmaster's office.

Dolores Umbridge was standing in front of it, her face red with exasperation. She was cursing at the gargoyle, waving her wand in anger at it. It refused to move, and Minerva smirked to herself. She quietly doubled back and took another route to her office, simply to avoid talking to Umbridge.

* * *

That night, Hermione sat in a chair near the secret doorway, pretending to read out of a book. There were still quite a few students in the common room, and she was starting to get slightly impatient. It was already 10pm, and she was keen to get to Minerva's room.

After ten more minutes waiting, Hermione slipped her hand into her pocket and drew out a small object. It was a Decoy Detonator, which she had gotten at Fred and George's shop in the summer. She had used one several weeks ago in the corridors so she could avoid Malfoy and his cronies, and she now tried to keep one on her just in case.

She subtly dropped it on the floor next to her chair, and it scuttled away in the shadows. She sat in her chair, waiting, and was soon rewarded. A bang was heard, and a puff of smoke suddenly appeared at the complete opposite end of the common room. All the students in the room jumped up and hurried over to see what was going on, and Hermione quickly used the opportunity to get away.

After a moment, she reached Minerva's rooms. Minerva had told her several weeks ago to just let herself in instead of knocking, so Hermione did so.

The door shut with a click, and Hermione heard a gasp behind her. She spun around, to see Minerva sitting on the sofa with a panicked expression. She was holding a hand mirror in one hand, the other clutching the chest of her robes.

"Oh, Hermione, it's you," Minerva breathed, relaxing back. "I forgot you were coming, you gave me a fright."

Hermione smiled apologetically. "Sorry Minerva."

"It's alright. Come take a seat, I won't be long," Minerva replied, which Hermione found a bit strange. As she made her way to the sofa, she got even more puzzled as Minerva began to talk into the mirror.

"What do you want me to say?" Minerva asked.

To Hermione's shock, the mirror answered back – in Professor Dumbledore's voice! "Just brush it off, or evade the question. Try to avoid her as much as possible."

"Yeah, that'll be easy," Minerva replied darkly. "She's bloody everywhere." Minerva glanced next to her, and noticed the extremely confused expression on Hermione's face. She smiled, and scooted closer to the girl. She held the mirror out, so Hermione could look into it.

Hermione peered at the mirror, and to her surprise it was Albus Dumbledore, smiling back at her.

"Good evening Miss Granger, how are you this fine evening?" he asked her, eyes twinkling.

"Uh, I'm good thanks," she responded nervously.

Minerva chuckled lightly. "Hermione, it's a two way mirror. Albus has one too, so this way we can communicate to each other whilst he is away from the school."

"Oh, okay," Hermione said, finally understanding. She sat quietly as Minerva and Albus finished their conversation, and Minerva cast finite incantatem on the mirror. It flashed slightly, and then turned back into an ordinary mirror.

Minerva arose and took the mirror into her bedroom, slipping it into the drawer on her bedside table.

"Albus gave me that mirror several weeks ago, he had a feeling that something may happen," Minerva informed Hermione as she came back out into the living room. "It's a good thing he did. At least this way I have a means of communicating with him, and keeping him updated on the school."

Hermione nodded, intrigued. "How does it work? What kind of spell is on the mirror?"

"To work it, I just say Albus's name into the mirror and it alerts him that I'm trying to contact him. It's a variation of a special charm, Albus cast it. Have you heard of the Protean charm?"

Hermione flushed, suddenly looking a little guilty. "Yes. I, um, I cast it on fake Galleon coins so the DA knew when our meetings were on," she confessed.

Minerva raised her eyebrows, surprised. "You cast a Protean? That's a seventh year spell. Excellent work, Hermione. As for the DA…" She paused, watching Hermione. The girl bowed her head.

"I'm so sorry, it was my idea to begin with, and now Professor Dumbledore is gone. I accept total responsibility, it wasn't Harry's fault. We aren't learning anything practical in DADA, and Harry's such a great teacher. Do you know Neville couldn't cast a proper stunner until he joined the DA? I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about it though, I hope you don't think I don't trust you, because I do, I promise. But there was a list that everyone signed, and if someone spoke to anyone about the DA that wasn't on the list, they get punished."

"I know, I saw Miss Edgecombe's face," Minerva said, trying to hide a smile. "Hermione, I'm not mad. I think it's fantastic what you and Mr Potter have accomplished with this group. Albus is so proud as well, he's just disappointed you got caught."

Hermione glanced up, surprised. "You're not angry? But I kept it a secret from you!"

"Because you had to. The less people that knew, the safer you were. It's okay. I know you trust me, so don't worry about that either," Minerva replied. "But I need you to promise me something. Promise me you won't continue with the DA anymore. With Dolores as Headmistress, it's just too dangerous, more than ever now with Albus out of the school."

Hermione promised, understanding how risky it would be to continue. Things were already bad enough at the school; she wasn't going to do anything that could potentially cause more problems.

"Alright, let's get back to your training," Minerva said, moving to the middle of the room. "We only have a few weeks left of training, and then I want you to take a break from it. Your OWL's are coming up, and not only could you use the rest from our training, I dare say you will make use of the free time to study."

Hermione was disappointed; she had wanted to be a fully accomplished Animagus by the end of the school year. Minerva noticed this disappointment straight away.

"Don't worry, if you're staying with me for the summer we'll have more than enough time to complete your training," Minerva said with a smile.

"Okay, great. I could use the extra study time," Hermione agreed. Minerva snorted to herself – if there was any student who needed extra time to study for the OWL's, it definitely wasn't Hermione. The girl could probably sit the exams now and still pass with flying colours.

_**TBC…**_

_Sorry for such a long wait between updates, I've been extremely flat out lately juggling three jobs and full time study. But I'm on holidays from uni for two weeks now so should hopefully get more written._

_Just to follow up on a review, this will just be a Minerva/Hermione friendship, not a romance._

_As always, any suggestions, ideas and feedback is appreciated_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The next week, signs were posted in the common rooms announcing that all fifth year students must have a Careers Advice meeting with their head of house. Hermione poured over countless pamphlets with Harry and Ron, wanting to explore all her options. In the back of her mind, she had an idea of what she would love to do, but refused to narrow her options just yet.

The day before her meeting, she brought her pamphlets to breakfast, lunch and dinner so she could continue to study them. However, her time to read was cut short at dinner, as Harry had plenty of news about his careers advice meeting.

"You should have seen McGonagall! She was going off at Umbridge," Harry told them as they ate.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, stealing a glance at the Head Table. Minerva was in her seat, and although Umbridge had taken over Professor Dumbledore's Head chair, Minerva had her back turned resolutely to the Headmistress and was focusing on her conversation with Madam Hooch. Hermione turned her attention back to Harry. "What happened?"

Harry chuckled, apparently remembering the meeting. "Professor McGonagall asked me what I wanted to do, and I said an Auror. She then told me about the subjects I would need for it. Umbridge tried to say I was hopeless at Defence Against the Dark Arts, but McGonagall basically called her an incompetent teacher! It was great, you should have seen the look on her face," he replied gleefully. "They were still shouting at each other when I left the meeting."

"Man, I would have loved to see that," Ron said somewhat wistfully. Hermione smiled lightly, but didn't reply. She continued eating, occasionally stealing a glance at Minerva when no one was paying attention, and just as she was getting up to leave she caught Minerva's eye. She gave her teacher a reassuring smile, who gave a small, tired smile back.

* * *

The following morning, Hermione had Harry's description of his Careers Advice meeting playing through her mind as she reached Minerva's office. She took a slow breath then gathered her Gryffindor courage and knocked. She heard Minerva's voice call out 'Enter' so she twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Straight off, she noticed Umbridge sitting in the corner of the room holding a pink clipboard, and Minerva was seated behind her desk, looking extremely tense.

"Please have a seat, Miss Granger," Minerva said, gesturing to the empty seat in front of her desk. Hermione sat, and Minerva shuffled a few papers together on her desk. "Alright, so as you know you are here for Career Advice, to help you select your subjects for your NEWT years," Minerva said. "Have you put any thought into what you want to do after Hogwarts?" She was quite curious as to Hermione's answer, as they had never discussed this topic during their Animagus training sessions.

"Yes, I actually have a couple of choices that I can't quite narrow down yet," Hermione replied, trying her best to ignore the scratching of Umbridge's quill behind her. "I was actually hoping that I could take the subjects needed for each, so I don't have to constrict my options quite yet?"

"That is actually a very intelligent decision, Miss Granger," Minerva replied. "What are your career choices?"

"Well, I'm very interested in healing, I think it could be a very rewarding career," Hermione replied. "I've also been considering getting involved in a research career, and working with discovering magical advancements."

Minerva nodded, impressed. "They are two excellent choices; I can see you doing either of those very well. Were they your only choices?"

"Um, no, there's one more…" Hermione said, pausing slightly as she fiddled with the only ring she wore. "I've seriously been considering, um, teaching."

Minerva glanced up sharply and stared at her favourite student. She felt slightly touched that Hermione was considering that type of career. However, she noticed that Umbridge had paused in her scribble to stair intently at the pair, so she hastily cleared her throat. "Alright, so Healing, Research and teaching. Well, for the matter of choosing your subjects, that shouldn't be a problem. Healing requires Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and for those you need to achieve at least Exceeds Expectations, which I highly doubt you'll have any problems with."

Hermione nodded, and quickly pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag. As Minerva continued, she started to furiously scribble notes.

"Research would also require Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. You need at least an Exceeds Expectations in those subjects as well. As for teaching, if there is a particular subject you are interested in, you would need an Outstanding in that. Have you got a particular strain in mind?" Minerva asked her.

Hermione's cheeks tinged slightly, and she was glad that her back was to Umbridge. "Transfiguration," she replied softly, giving her professor a small smile.

Minerva couldn't help but to return the smile. She was inwardly glowing, feeling so proud of Hermione, and somewhat more touched that not only did Hermione want to consider teaching, but she was interested in _her_ subject.

"Well, I'm sure you will not have a single problem with achieving an "O" in Transfiguration," Minerva replied. "Not to mention your other subjects as well."

A slight cough from the back of the room interrupted them. "Are you quite sure about that, Minerva?" came Umbridge's shrill voice.

Minerva's lips thinned, and her nostrils flared slightly. "Obviously I am sure, otherwise I would not have said it," she replied dangerously low. Umbridge raised her eyebrows, offended, and quickly began to scribble once more on her parchment.

"Now, as I was saying, the subjects you will need all up means you will be taking one extra class than the rest of the students, is that a problem for you?" Minerva asked, her attention now back to Hermione.

"No, not at all Professor," Hermione replied. "I was wondering though, after NEWTS, is there any extra study?"

Minerva nodded. "For healing, there is a three year study program at St Mungo's, which can be quite intensive. With research, it is a matter of finding a cooperation that will take you on, and they give you study and training." She watched as Hermione wrote all this down, and looked up. "Now, as for teaching, there are a couple of ways to do this. You can choose to go to a secondary school for three years of study, where you then become a qualified teacher. Or the better option is to find a school willing to take on an apprentice, which means you spend half your three years studying and half the time learning hands on. This is the more beneficial way."

Hermione nodded. "How would I go about finding a school?" she asked.

"You would simply apply to each school with your aim, and hope that there is one that would accept you. However, if teaching is honestly what you are interested in, then I would be most willing to offer you a position here, as my apprentice," Minerva said.

Hermione flushed slightly, a wide smile spreading on her face. However, before she could respond, they were interrupted yet again by Umbridge.

"Now now Minerva, you shouldn't get the poor girl's hopes up quite yet, she still has two years left to go," she said simperingly.

If Minerva looked dangerous before, it was nothing compared to now. She rose slowly out of her chair, keeping her palms flat to the table as if to steady her. "What," she began slowly in a low voice, "do you expect to happen in the next two years that could prevent Miss Granger from achieving her goals? After all, you insist that He Who Must Not Be Named is not back, so there's no chance of a war to interrupt her education. She has also performed at the top of the year since her first year, so there is also little doubt that she will be top in her final year also."

"Well, anything _can_ happen in two years…possibly a change in staff?" countered Umbridge. She wore an evil little smile that made Hermione shudder slightly to herself. "Besides, I hear Miss Granger is quite apt at getting herself into dangerous situations, and-"

"Don't you _dare_ threaten her," Minerva hissed, striding around her desk to stand next to Hermione, who stood as well. "You may threaten my career all you like, but _you will not_ say anything to Miss Granger." Minerva shifted her body slightly, so that she stood slightly in front of Hermione, as if to shield her from the verbal attack.

A look of delight crossed Umbridge's face, and she rose to her feet. "My my, you're very quick to defend her. I get the feeling she's not just a student to you, even just your protégé, as other staff have put it. You weren't this quick to defend Potter yesterday, so I can tell I've hit a nerve," she said somewhat gleefully.

"Don't be utterly ridiculous!" Minerva cried. "Miss Granger is a student, one of the best I might add, but a student none the less. However, if she is being treated unfairly I will most definitely speak up."

Hermione could sense that Minerva was getting worked up, and began to feel very nervous. She didn't want Minerva to accidentally do something she would later regret, but couldn't quite see how she could intervene without making Umbridge more suspicious.

"Watch that tone with me, Minerva," Umbridge said loudly, moving her hands to her hips. "Not only am I the Headmistress, I am also the High Inquisitor and Senior-"

"Oh, stop saying that like it means something," Minerva scoffed, breaking Umbridge off in mid sentence. "You're only here because Fudge wants to keep an eye on the school, and as long as he gives you a little power he knows you'll do whatever he asks."

Umbridge's face turned bright red, and she glared furiously at Minerva. "Keep in mind; I have the power to fire you, so if you don't be careful I'll send you straight from this school right now!"

At these words, Hermione glanced sharply at Minerva, worry clearly evident in her eyes. Minerva noticed this, and shook her head almost imperceptivity in warning. "You know you can't send me away," Minerva replied in a strong voice. "I go, and the rest of the staff will follow me, you mark my words!"

"So will the students!" Hermione added in, defiantly glaring at Umbridge.

Umbridge was speechless for a moment, trying to think of a retort. Minerva turned away from her, to face Hermione.

"Miss Granger, that will conclude your Careers Advice meeting. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate, my office is always open," Minerva told her. "You may go back to your common room now." Hermione nodded, and picked her bag up from the floor. As she turned to leave, she heard Minerva address Umbridge.

"As Miss Granger was my final fifth year student for Careers Advice, your presence is no longer required. Good day, Dolores." Minerva's tone was firm and no-nonsense, leaving Umbridge no choice but to leave.

As Umbridge left her office, Minerva collapsed into her chair wearily. She took a few deep breaths, when she suddenly felt her hand tingling. Glancing down, she saw blue ink words forming on her palm in Hermione's curvy handwriting.

'Meet me in your rooms when she's gone,' it said, and Minerva marvelled to herself at the magical skills of her student. She tidied up her desk, and exited the classroom. Umbridge was nowhere to be seen, however rather than take her chances Minerva hurried along the corridors until she reached her rooms.

As she whispered her password and the door swung open, Minerva was greeted with the sight of Hermione already in her rooms. The girl was holding two steaming mugs of tea, and a plate of Ginger Newts sat upon the coffee table. When Hermione noticed Minerva, she smiled and set one mug down next to the biscuits.

"Come sit down, Minerva," she said, motioning Minerva over to the sofa. Minerva obeyed, and took a seat. Hermione handed her the mug, which turned out to be tea. Minerva took a slow sip and sighed gratefully.

"You're amazing Hermione, this is exactly what I need," she said, already feeling some of the tension from earlier begin to leave her body. Hermione gave a small smile and sat down, reaching over to pick up her own cup of tea.

Minerva noticed almost immediately that there was something slightly different about the girl. She seemed the tiniest bit distracted and shy, something Minerva was only noticing due to the amount of time they had been spending together. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Hermione…" Minerva began slowly, turning to face her student. "Before, when I said to Umbridge that you were only my student, nothing more, you know I don't mean that right?"

Hermione glanced at Minerva, uncertainty written in her eyes. Minerva smiled reassuringly and set her mug down so she could lean forward and give her a brief hug. "I only said that to cover up. Of course you mean more to me than just a student, I consider you as one of my friends. I care about you so much, I hope you know that."

Hermione smiled back. "Thanks Minerva," she replied, her spirits lifting.

"But I need you to promise me something," Minerva continued, her tone turning more grim. "Should something happen and I have to leave the school, I want you to stay here. Your education is too important. I mean this Hermione, promise me?"

Hermione could see the seriousness in Minerva's eyes, so she reluctantly nodded. Minerva nodded her head in return. "Alright, well I have to head off now, I have third year Hufflepuffs in ten minutes and I need to prepare, and don't you have Potions?" Minerva asked as she rose to her feet.

"That's right, I completely forgot. I better go get my books from the dorm," Hermione replied. She stood and moved over to the door as Minerva banished the empty mugs. "Will I see you tonight?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes. We will make it your last training session, so from now when you come over you can study for your exams."

They bid each other farewell, and Hermione exited through the secret passage way. Minerva smiled after her, then turned to get organised for her next class.

_**TBC…**_

_Bit fluffy, hope this chapter is okay. I'm trying to stick to the books, but will be going off-canon at times. More to come soon…_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

That evening, Hermione slipped through the passage way whilst Harry and Ron were engrossed in a game of Exploding Snap, despite her warnings of the approaching exams.

Hermione came through Minerva's door, but didn't see the older woman anywhere. "Minerva, are you here?" she called out, taking a few steps into the room.

"In here," a voice called back, and Hermione followed it through a door that was next to the bedroom. Hermione found herself in what appeared to be a study, with one entire wall lined with bookshelves. Minerva was sprawled comfortably on a bean bag chair in front of a roaring fire, a book perched on her knees.

Minerva glanced up to see Hermione standing in the doorway, and she closed the book. "Good evening Hermione," she greeted warmly as she got to her feet and placed the book into a space on one of the shelves. "Got away easy tonight?"

"Yeah, Harry and Ron were too busy playing Exploding Snap to notice," Hermione said. "I wonder how they'll survive their exams, they just aren't willing to study, and will want to borrow my notes a few days beforehand I'll bet."

"They'll learn the hard way, but then again boys will be boys," Minerva replied with a smile. "But they're lucky to have you, or who knows what trouble they'd be in."

Minerva headed out to the living room, and Hermione followed after a lingering look at the bookcase lined wall. "So, are you ready for your last training session?" Minerva asked, as she withdrew her wand from her robes.

Hermione drew a quick breath, readying herself for the task as she always did. "Ready as ever," she replied. Secretly, she was hoping to master her transformation tonight, so she could move onto the wandless transformations during the summer. She wanted to excel at whatever task she did, yet as it was Minerva training her, she had to be perfect.

They began, and Minerva noticed the extra concentration that Hermione had. She smiled at the diligent effort, and therefore doubled her coaching; hoping for the same result Hermione was after that evening. Fortunately, they were both rewarded.

They had been working hard for about two hours, when Hermione suddenly transformed with a sharp pop. In her place was a small cat with fluffy brown fur much resembling Hermione's hair.

Minerva grinned and moved to bend down. However, the small cat must not have expected the movement, as it jumped in fright. Suddenly, there was another pop, and the cat turned back into Hermione. The only problem was, she was mid air when she transformed back, and came crashing down on top of Minerva.

Minerva was pinned to the floor under Hermione, and although feeling slightly sore there were no major injuries. "Hermione, are you alright?" she asked the girl. Hermione didn't reply, and a twinge of worry flickered in Minerva. She wriggled out from under the girl, to find that Hermione was unconscious. There was a cut an inch long on her forehead which was starting to bleed.

Trying not to panic, Minerva thought back to the first aid course she had completed at St Mungo's several years ago as she cast several diagnostic spells on Hermione. She was simply unconscious; she must have hit her head on the corner of the coffee table as she fell.

Minerva grabbed for her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," she muttered, and Hermione's slumped form rose into the air. She floated the girl carefully into her bedroom, and lowered her onto the bed. She conjured a cloth and held it to her forehead to stem the bleeding. Casting a quick spell to keep the cloth on the girls head with slight pressure by itself, Minerva hurried into the bathroom and rifled through the medicine cabinet quickly until she found her special healing lotion and some cotton balls.

Moving back into her bedroom, Minerva eased herself onto the bed next to Hermione and brought a hand up to gently stroke a few loose strands of hair off the girl's face. She poured a small amount of the lotion onto the cotton and began dabbing at the cut on Hermione's forehead. It was a considerably worse cut than Hermione's hand had been, but after several minutes it faded, leaving the skin slightly pink. Minerva then conjured a cool cloth, and laid it over Hermione's forehead.

"Okay Hermione, wake up for me, you're alright," Minerva began to say softly to her student. She continued to murmur soothing words, until finally Hermione's eyelids started to flutter.

"What…where am…Minerva?" Hermione said slowly, blinking rapidly to clear her mind. She was quite confused; the last thing she remembered was casting the Animagus spell and now she was laid out on what seemed to be Minerva's bed, with her professor seated next to her staring worriedly.

"Hermione, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Minerva asked softly, trying to hide the relief that was clearly evident in her voice.

"I have a headache, and I'm a bit dizzy, but okay otherwise…what happened? Why am I in your bed?" Hermione asked.

"You transformed for the first time, don't you remember? You became a little cat, but when I bent down to you, I must have scared you and you jumped. The only problem was, you transformed back in mid air so you fell down onto me and hit your head on the coffee table. You've been unconscious for about five minutes." Minerva smiled reassuringly down at her, and smoothed the hair back of her forehead. "You also had a nasty cut on your forehead, but I've healed it already."

"I transformed?" Hermione asked, a grin slowly forming on her face.

Minerva chuckled lightly. "Congratulations, you managed it. You made quite a cute little cat, if I may say so. I'm so proud of you. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm just going to get you a potion for that headache."

As Minerva rose to her feet, Hermione drew in a slow breath and relaxed back into the soft pillows. She had finally achieved her goal! Sure, she was far from being a complete Animagus, as she had yet to master wandless transformations, but she knew she could handle it. A warm flush spread through her and she smiled happily to herself.

Minerva returned holding a small vial filled with dark blue liquid. "Here, drink this, it will get rid of that headache of yours," she said, handing it over. Hermione accepted it and uncorked it. In one gulp she swallowed it down, making a face as the liquid hit her tastebuds. "I don't like the taste either," Minerva said, smirking lightly.

"I suppose I should head back to my room now then," Hermione said, feeling her headache fade immediately. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and went to stand up. A wave of dizziness came over her and she started to sway, but Minerva reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her.

"Whoa, easy there…sit back down on the bed for a moment," Minerva said worriedly.

Hermione did as she was asked, bringing a hand to her head. "My headache's gone but I got quite a head spin when I went to stand up," she explained. Minerva frowned.

"I only had a mild headache relieving potion, I hoped it would be strong enough but apparently not," Minerva said. "I don't have anything else with me, and I don't want to go to Poppy at this hour…Okay Hermione, I want you to sleep here tonight, I don't want you walking back to your common room and up all those stairs to your dormitory after a head injury like this. You can have my bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa."

"No, I can't put you out like that," Hermione protested. "If you really want me to stay, fine, but I'll stay on the sofa at least, this is your bed so you should have it."

"Hermione, it's fine. You'll be more comfortable here. Now, can you transfigure your robes into pyjamas yourself?" Minerva asked, smoothly changing the subject. Hermione nodded. "Okay, well I'll leave you be so you can get some sleep. If your headache returns, come and let me know, alright?"

As Minerva turned to leave the room, Hermione suddenly spoke up. "Wait. Before I go to sleep, can we, um, have our tea still?"

Minerva smiled at her student and nodded. "Certainly. We'll drink it in here, I think. I'll go and get that, you stay in bed." Hermione agreed, and Minerva left the room to go and organise the tea.

When she returned to her room, she saw that Hermione was already under the covers, and her robes were transfigured into a red tank top and pants. Minerva leaned over and handed Hermione a mug, who smiled in thanks. Minerva perched herself on the edge of the bed.

"You can sit down properly, I won't bite or anything," Hermione said with a chuckle, and Minerva made a face at her. She moved over to sit next to Hermione, leaning back against the pillows.

"Minerva…how did you become an Animagus?" Hermione asked, as she took a slow sip of her tea.

Minerva smiled faintly. "I was in my fourth year at Hogwarts; it was nearing the end of the school year. I had read all about Animagi, and there were only very few people who had mastered it. The only person I knew of who was an Animagus was Albus Dumbledore. He was my Transfiguration professor at the time. I was finding class work very easy, so I went to see him one evening in his office and asked if I could train to become an Animagus. He didn't ask me anything, he just observed me for a few moments, and then he said yes. We started training the following night, in the Transfiguration classroom three nights a week. We trained until the summer, and then I went home. When I returned in my fifth year, we resumed our training, and a few weeks into term I succeeded in my transformation. A month or so after that, I managed it wandless, and Albus took me to register."

"What is it like to register?" Hermione asked as she finished the last of her tea. Minerva took a few long sips then banished the mugs. Instead of getting up, she scooted down slightly so her head was resting more comfortably on the pillow, instead of sitting propped up. Hermione mimicked her movement.

"It was definitely a bit daunting to register, as I would be the youngest ever Animagus to do so. Albus took me to the Ministry, and the Minister for Magic was there, along with a handful of other Ministry officials. I had to listen to some speech, then get up in front of all those people and sign a magical document. But once I did, I was allowed to transform at anytime, anywhere. It definitely made patrolling the hallways when I was a Prefect much easier."

"Tell me about when you were at Hogwarts," Hermione said softly. As Minerva began to talk, Hermione closed her eyes listening to the soothing Scottish lilt in her teacher's voice. It comforted her, helping her to relax as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

_A/N – Sorry about the wait between updates, life is a little hectic right now. But I noticed there hasn't been many new stories/updates lately so hopefully I can get the ball rolling with everyone else. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon. Any ideas or advice is always appreciated…__**TBC**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Minerva slowly returned back to consciousness, after one of the most restful sleeps she had had in a long time. However, she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to fully wake up yet. She couldn't remember feeling this comfortable in a long time.

As her senses began to return to her, Minerva soon realised that she wasn't alone. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see that she was in her bed under the covers, with her robes still on. Minerva must have fallen asleep during the night whilst talking to Hermione about her student days, and subconsciously gotten under the covers when she got cold. However, that was not the part that woke her up. Hermione was fast asleep next to her, her head resting on Minerva's shoulder. Minerva's arm was wrapped loosely around the girl's upper back. Minerva was trying to work out how to get up without waking Hermione, when she began to stir.

"Good morning Minerva," Hermione said, as she sat up, freeing Minerva's arm so she could climb out of bed.

"Good morning Hermione. I apologize for falling asleep in here, that wasn't very appropriate of me-" Minerva said; however Hermione cut her off.

"It's okay, probably more comfortable for you than sleeping on the sofa," she replied. "I didn't mind, you looked like you needed the rest. I just want to say though, I appreciate you taking care of me last night. I haven't felt that cared about in, well, a long time." Hermione blushed slightly, thinking she may have over-shared her emotions, so quickly busied herself with transfiguring her clothes back into robes.

Minerva felt a pang of sadness, and mentally cursed Hermione's mother for making the girl feel that way. She also felt a slight kick from her maternal instincts, wanting to go and hug Hermione, but knew that it would simply embarrass the girl more. "No need to thank me, Hermione. I'm always here for you," she replied softly. Hermione glanced at her, and they shared a quick smile.

"Well I better get back to the common room before anyone notices I'm gone," Hermione said, glancing at her watch and realising it was six thirty in the morning. "Everyone will start getting up in about half an hour."

"Good thinking. Are you feeling fine now, no more dizziness?" Minerva asked.

"I feel great," Hermione replied.

"Excellent. Well, you better get going, I have your class after lunch so I'll see you in a few hours," Minerva said.

Hermione nodded, and they both walked out of the bedroom into the living room. Just as Hermione was about to go through the secret passage, Minerva stopped her.

"Hermione? You're welcome to come to my rooms any time, and I'd be more than happy to help you study. Since it's so close to your exams, we won't train any more until the holidays. I must say, you did fantastic last night, you should be proud of yourself."

"Thanks Minerva," Hermione replied, flushing slightly. She gave her teacher a warm smile, then left through the passage way.

* * *

The next few weeks became quite stressful for Hermione, as the exams approached. She split her free time between studying in Minerva's rooms, and helping Harry and Ron study in the Gryffindor Common room. Considering how each time she had previously mentioned to the boys that they should start studying and they had dismissed her, she was half tempted to not help them and see them fail, but deep down she cared about them too much. They thanked her continuously, and Hermione couldn't help but gloat slightly to herself.

The time she spent in Minerva's rooms was much more intense. Every second evening or so, she would hurry down the secret corridor, where Minerva would be waiting with two steaming mugs of tea and a plate of Ginger Newts, a treat which was quickly becoming Hermione's favourite biscuit. Minerva would then review Hermione's notes with her and quiz her intensely.

Finally, the morning of the first exam, Hermione woke up with the rising sun. She took her _Achievements in Charming_ book to breakfast with her, and despite not having an appetite she forced herself to swallow a slice of toast as her eyes skimmed across the pages.

When Harry and Ron arrived, they looked as nervous as she felt.

"Morning Hermione," Harry said in an unusually high tone.

Ron managed a grunt, his face slightly green.

Hermione greeted them in reply, but kept her attention on her book, hoping to absorb as much information as possible. However, when the remaining food disappeared from the plates, the three knew it was time. They headed out to the Entrance Hall with the rest of the fifth year students and seventh years.

Tapping her foot unconsciously, Hermione stood next to her friends silently, until the doors to the Great Hall swung open again. They all filed in the room, noticing that the house tables were gone, and in their place were numerous individual tables. Minerva McGonagall stood at the front of the room, waiting patiently.

Hermione quickly took her seat, at glanced up to the front of the room. Minerva was staring straight at her, and when the she realised she had caught her students eye Minerva gave Hermione a reassuring smile. Although still worried, a small sense of relief filled Hermione, and she took a slow breath to regain her confidence.

"You may begin," Minerva called out loudly as she turned over a large hourglass. Immediately, Hermione turned her test paper over and began to write.

* * *

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Minerva asked reassuringly.

"I guess not. I didn't have any problems with the theory, I just hope I wrote enough, there wasn't enough time to go into as much detail as I wanted for a couple of questions," Hermione replied.

She had just finished her practical Charms exam, and met Minerva in her rooms whilst the rest of the fifth years were still going. Since Minerva had already supervised the theory, she didn't have to supervise the practical, and she didn't have a class for another half an hour.

"You'll do better than you think," Minerva told her. "You know the work, you've studied hard, so you will have gotten the mark you deserve."

"Yeah, well we'll just see when I get my results," Hermione replied nervously.

"Well, at least you have Transfiguration tomorrow, that's your best subject. You're not worried about that, are you?" Minerva asked.

Hermione flushed slightly. "To be completely honest, it's the one I'm worried most about. I know it's the one I should find easiest, but it's also the one I care most about. There's more pressure on me if I make a mistake."

Minerva rose up from the sofa and moved over to Hermione, who had been pacing slightly around the coffee table. She placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders to still her. "Hermione, I have complete faith that you can get an Outstanding on your Transfiguration exam. But, for some reason, should you not go as well as you hoped, it won't matter. I know how smart you are, and how hard you try, that's what counts. And I will always be proud of you, no matter what."

It took these words of Minerva's for Hermione to realise what she had been most worried about deep down. She was scared that she would disappoint Minerva, and have the woman stop caring about her; just like her parents did.

Minerva looked into her eyes, and could almost read the thoughts behind the brown pools. She pulled Hermione into a hug, and rubbed soothing circles on her back lightly.

They withdrew after a couple moments, and Minerva noticed with satisfaction that Hermione already looked slightly more confident.

"Well, I better go, I have fourth year Slytherin's now, and they're always a handful," Minerva said dryly. "However, you're welcome to stay here and study if you want, I dare say it would be more peaceful than the Common Room. Although, I did hear a rumour off my second years yesterday that any students who talked louder than a whisper were getting told off?" she added with a slight smirk.

A sheepish look crossed Hermione's face, and she blushed slightly. "Well, they'd be doing the same thing when they get to their fifth year."

Minerva chuckled. "I was just as bad when I was at school. Anyway, I'm serious, stay as long as you like, I trust you to stay here unaccompanied. The offer stands for the rest of your exams."

"Thanks so much Minerva, that's so kind of you," Hermione replied gratefully. She grinned at her professor, who smiled back and then left the room to go teach her next class.

Enjoying the peace, a stark contrast to the crowded Gryffindor common room, Hermione grabbed her bag and relaxed back on the sofa. She pulled out her Transfiguration textbook, and began to read.

* * *

_**TBC…**_

_Still slightly fluffy, my main aim of this chapter is to build up the relationship between Minerva and Hermione. Hope you liked it, more to come soon_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Despite feeling double as nervous the following morning before the Transfiguration exam, Hermione breezed through the theory. She found the practical side just as simple, and managed to vanish her tortoise on the first go.

After that, the rest of the first week of exams seemed to cruise by. The only one she was worried about was Ancient Runes, as she realised upon leaving the exam that she had mistranslated one word. Otherwise, she felt fairly confident, not that she would tell anyone however.

The second week of exams began, and again Hermione had no trouble with the exams. However, the general atmosphere at meal times was slowly growing tenser, and Dolores Umbridge appeared more and more exasperated each passing day. Something was coming, Hermione wasn't sure what, but she knew it wouldn't be good.

Hermione's second last exam, Astronomy, arrived and the theory portion in the morning was relatively easy. The practical came late that evening, and Hermione made her way with the rest of the fifth year students to the Astronomy tower, telescope under one arm.

The exam was being supervised by two examiners named Tofty and Marchbanks, and as soon as Tofty had announced that they could begin, Hermione immediately began fiddling with her telescope and filling in her star chart.

She had completely filled it in about halfway into the exam, and after a quick glance around her she could tell that the rest of the students were nowhere near done. She then slowed down, and began to check each individual answer.

However, her attention was caught when there was only about ten or so minutes to go. It was a pitch black night, and the castle was silent, until a square of light fell on the lawn. Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly as several figures exited the castle, and she quickly realised one of the figures was Umbridge. That short, toadlike shadow was hard to miss.

Hermione watched the figures intently, her heart sinking as they got closer and closer to Hagrid's hut. However, before anything happened, there was an interruption.

"Ahem – ten minutes to go," said Professor Tofty. Nervous in case she had been caught watching, Hermione quickly turned back to her star chart, except kept one eye on the grounds below.

Suddenly, Hagrid's front door opened with a bang. He came towering out, roaring in anger as the other figures shot beams of red light at him, attempting to stun him.

"No!" Hermione cried as her heart leapt in her throat. She thought the professor said something, but paid no attention as she kept her eyes trained on Hagrid. He argued with the others, and after hearing him call one of them Dawlish, Hermione quickly realised they were Ministry officials.

The front doors to the castle opened again, and this time a lone figure came hurrying out. Hermione recognised that figure immediately. It was Minerva.

"How dare you!" Minerva cried as she hurried down the lawn. "_How dare you!"_

"It's McGonagall," Hermione whispered half to herself. The apprehension in her stomach doubled, and she watched tensely as Minerva strode towards Hagrid.

"Leave him alone! _Alone_, I say!" Minerva yelled furiously. She couldn't believe that Umbridge had brought along Ministry officials to do such a cowardly thing, it was disgusting. "On what ground are you attacking him? He has done nothing to warrant such-"

Hermione screamed, jumping up and taking no notice that her chair had toppled over, which knocked over Neville's telescope. Right before her eyes, the Ministry officials had shot no fewer than four red beams towards Minerva. They hit her in the chest, and for a moment she appeared to glow red. She then lifted right up and went flying backwards, landing hard and not moving.

Hermione didn't care if it would mean she would fail her exams; she thrust her star chart at Professor Marchbanks and tore away off the Astronomy tower and down the long, spiralling staircase.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Hermione repeated over and over, taking the steps two at a time. She raced along the corridors, ignoring the indignant shouts of several paintings calling for her to slow down. Her heart beat furiously as she reached the Entrance Hall, but before she could race out the doors they swung open.

Rolanda Hooch came inside with a grim look on her face. She held her wand out, and the unconscious form of Minerva floated gently next to her. Minerva's normally creamy skin appeared an ashen colour, and Hermione almost felt her heart stop.

"Miss Granger, it's okay, she's still alive," Madam Hooch said, correctly interpreting Hermione's panicked facial expression. "But she's in a very serious condition. We need to get her to Madam Pomfrey immediately."

Hermione nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak. She moved to stand alongside Minerva's unconscious form, and the three began to make their way back up the stairs towards the Hospital Wing. They looked a strange sight, two people walking either side of a floating person, yet luckily they didn't run into anyone.

"Poppy – where are you?" Rolanda called out as they burst through the doors of the Hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hurried out of her office, yet once she saw Minerva she faltered slightly, eyes growing wide.

"She was hit with four stunners, straight to the chest," Hermione informed the nurse, whilst Rolanda lowered Minerva onto a hospital bed. Madam Pomfrey bustled over and immediately began casting diagnostic spells. Hermione, unsure of what she should do, simply moved to stand on the other side of Minerva and gazed down sadly at her teacher.

"She's very badly hurt, but she can make it through," Poppy said, finishing her spells. "But there's too much damage for me to heal. She needs to go to St Mungo's." She bustled over to the fireplace, tossed in some floo powder and knelt down. She leaned forward, so just her head was in the flames, and Hermione could just overhear her speaking to someone.

A moment later Poppy stood up, and moved slightly away from the fire. Within seconds, two Healers appeared and stepped out of the fire. They hurried over to Minerva, quickly assessed her, and began to talk to Poppy and Rolanda in hurried whispers.

Taking the chance whilst the others were distracted, Hermione turned all her attention to her professor. "It's okay Minerva, you're hurt but you're going to be fine," she whispered, leaning closer to the older woman's head. She didn't notice Rolanda watching out of the corner of her eye. Hermione reached up and brushed a stray hair off her mentor's forehead. "They're taking you to St Mungo's, and they're going to fix you up and you'll be back at Hogwarts before you know it. Be strong, Minerva, you can pull through this."

Hermione slowly backed away, as the Healers came over. They cast a couple of spells, and Minerva was now floating a few inches off the bed, yet resting on a stretcher. Each Healer took hold of either side of the stretcher, muttered a few words, and they disappeared with a pop.

"Well, there's nothing more I can do here," Poppy said wearily. "Miss Granger, you'd best be off to bed. Good evening Miss Granger, Rolanda." With that, Poppy turned and made her way back to her office.

Hermione was now left standing in the Hospital wing with Rolanda Hooch. Not wanting to show how upset she was, she turned away and started to leave. However, Rolanda began to speak so she paused.

"Miss Granger…it's okay, she's going to be alright," Rolanda said, noticing Hermione's troubled expression before she turned away.

Hermione glanced at her and gave a small nod, not quite trusting herself to speak. She was filled with apprehension and worry for Minerva, and was fighting to keep her emotions at bay.

"You and Minerva are close, aren't you," Rolanda said slowly, thoughts whirring. "You're not just upset for your teacher."

Hermione sighed slightly, and considered her options. She knew Rolanda was trustworthy, and one of Minerva's close friends. It wouldn't hurt to tell her the truth. "Minerva and I have been breaking Umbridge's decrees for months now. She's been training me to become an Animagus," Hermione confessed. "I've been spending three evenings a week in her rooms. We train for a few hours then have tea and talk. We've gotten pretty close."

If Rolanda thought it was strange that Hermione was calling Minerva by her first name, she said nothing of it. However, her heart went out to the girl, and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"My parents and I haven't gotten along at all since I got into Hogwarts," Hermione continued, a small tear sliding down her cheek. "They've finally kicked me out of home. Minerva offered for me to live with her for the summer. I guess I can't now."

"Hey, don't worry," Rolanda said reassuringly. "Minerva is strong, she'll pull through this. She always does."

Hermione nodded, and quickly wiped the tear off her cheek. "I know. It's just scary to see her hurt. Anyway, I should go, it's late and I have my last exam tomorrow."

Rolanda nodded, and stood still as she watched the young woman walk out of the Hospital wing with her head down.

_**TBC**_

_A/N – well, chapter 12 and still going. From this chapter onwards, it wil not follow strictly to canon, you will notice some differences. Any thoughts, feedback, ideas and tips are appreciated. Hope everyone is liking it so far_

_Im also on the hunt for a new story idea, whether it would be a chapter story or a one shot, so if anyone has any good ideas, or wants to see a particular storyline written, I'd love to hear about it! Or even if you know any good websites that have plot bunnies on it ____ Thanks!_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Hermione began to make her way to the Gryffindor tower from the Hospital Wing, however when she was almost there a thought struck her. Albus Dumbledore most likely wouldn't know about the attack on Minerva, and of all people, he should be told. Hermione doubled her pace, and entered the common room to find it empty. She whispered the password at the secret door, and when it opened she slipped through and began running down the passageway.

She finally reached Minerva's rooms and burst into the living room. It felt strange to be in there without Minerva, sort of unnatural.

Hermione made her way into Minerva's bedroom, and over to the chest of drawers next to the bed. She felt nervous about going into Minerva's personal drawer, but knew she had to. Luckily, the mirror that Minerva had shown her so many weeks ago was sitting on top, so Hermione withdrew it and sat down on Minerva's bed.

"Albus Dumbledore," Hermione stated clearly, gazing hopefully into the mirror. It did nothing, so Hermione placed it down next to her on the bed with a disappointed sigh. She slowly got to her feet and went to walk out of the room, however was stopped by a voice as she was in the doorframe.

"Minerva?" the voice of Albus Dumbledore came from the bed. Hermione hurried back over and picked up the mirror, peering intently at it. Albus Dumbledore gazed out at her, a tired and confused expression upon his face.

"Miss Granger? What's the matter?" he asked urgently, noticing the worry on Hermione's face.

"It's Minerva. She's in St Mungo's," Hermione replied, feeling her eyes starting to well up again.

"What happened to her? Is she okay?" Albus replied, quickly growing apprehensive.

"Umbridge and some people from the Ministry tried to sack Hagrid," Hermione told him. "Minerva went outside to stop them, and they shot four Stunners at her. The spells hit her in the chest and it flung her back, and she's unconscious. Madam Pomfrey has sent her to St Mungo's, and she's in a critical condition."

"Merlin, Minerva…" Albus whispered. He remained silent for a few moments, and then cleared his throat. "Alright, thanks for telling me this Miss Granger. Now, I need you to listen carefully. There's only one week left of school, hopefully Minerva will be back before then. I'll check in on her in the next couple of days, and I'll pass a message on to you to let you know how she is. I can't guarantee if I'll be back by then or not, hopefully I will. Until then, you need to be careful. Be cautious that Dolores Umbridge has people all over the castle, however I want you to remember, the Forest is not her friend. Can you remember that?"

If Hermione thought his words were strange, she didn't show it, and simply nodded in response.

"Good. Now, you better get to bed, it's getting late, and you have an exam tomorrow if I remember correctly," he said. "If anything else happens, don't hesitate to contact me. Keep this mirror close."

Hermione nodded again, and they bid each other good night. The mirror flashed, and turned blank, so Hermione slipped it back into Minerva's drawer.

All of a sudden, she felt a wave of exhaustion come crashing down upon her. The stress of exams, and Umbridge, and Minerva's attack hit her at full force, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Instead of going back to the Gryffindor tower and to her bed, she pulled back the quilt and climbed into Minerva's empty bed. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

Minerva was cold. She shivered lightly, and wondered why the heating charm wasn't working on her quilt, which she had cast on it the day she bought it. Keeping her eyes closed, she reached down to feel for it, but couldn't feel it anywhere.

Her other senses suddenly kicked in, and Minerva quickly realised that she wasn't in her bed. Her eyes snapped open, and at first all she could see was white.

_Have I died? _Minerva thought to herself confused, until her vision began to focus. She was in a bed, in a small room. The entire décor of the room was white, making her eyes hurt slightly.

"Oh good, you're awake!" a merry voice suddenly said, and a tall figure entered her room. It was a plump woman with curly red hair, and she smiled cheerfully at Minerva.

Minerva had no idea who this woman was, but that was the least of her concerns as she began to notice the pain that was consuming her body. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and her lower back was positively aching.

"What…where…" Minerva began, her throat croaky from disuse. Before she could continue, the woman interrupted.

"I'm Hannah Sullivan, I'm the Healer assigned to you. Do you remember what happened, the accident at Hogwarts?" the woman asked as she moved to stand next to the bed.

Minerva frowned, trying to organise her thoughts. She remembered finding out that Umbridge was going to sack Hagrid, and thinking that she had to stop it…what happened?

Healer Sullivan seemed to realise what Minerva was thinking, because she smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, I didn't think you would remember anyway. You were hit by four Stunners, straight to the chest, and it flung you back and put you into a coma. You've been unconscious for about three days now," she said. "You're at St Mungo's, and now that you're awake we can concentrate on getting you better."

"Three days? I can't have missed the past three days!" Minerva gasped. "What happened to Hagrid? Albus is gone, so I need to get back to Hogwarts, the school needs me!" She started to sit herself up, but Healer Sullivan quickly reached out and pushed her gently back down.

"Hold up, you're not going anywhere for a couple more days," she said. "Don't worry about Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore is back. He actually asked to be alerted when you awoke, so I'll give him a quick Fire Call in a moment, I daresay he will be right over to see you. Before I do, I just need to check a few things."

The Healer began to cast several diagnostic spells over her, but Minerva paid no attention to her. Albus was back? What happened to change that? So many thoughts and questions tumbled through Minerva's mind, and she was so distracted she didn't even notice Healer Sullivan leave the room.

Several minutes later, another figure walked through the door, only this time it made Minerva grin. "Albus! You're really back," Minerva said happily, moving to sit up. Pain shot through her chest, and she quickly desisted, trying not to let the pain show on her face.

"Minerva, my dear, I'm so glad you're okay," Albus replied, conjuring a chair next to the chair. "I've been worrying about you ever since Miss Granger spoke to me several nights ago."

"Hermione spoke to you?" Minerva asked slowly.

"She was in the middle of her Astronomy examination when you got hurt. She saw everything, and left the exam to help you. She and Rolanda took you to the Hospital wing where Poppy sent you to St Mungo's, and then she came to your rooms and got our mirror. She contacted me and told me what happened. Quite a smart girl, she is," Albus explained, smiling at the end.

Minerva smiled in pride for her student, but felt guilty that Hermione had seen the attack. _I should have been more careful!_ Minerva thought to herself. She shook her head lightly, and turned back to Albus. "So how have you managed to come back to Hogwarts?" she asked.

Albus took on a much more serious tone and his facial expression turned grave. He began to explain the events of the past few days; how Harry, Hermione and the others went to the Ministry of Magic and fought Voldermort. As he gently broke the news of Sirius's death to her, Minerva's eyes immediately began to well up and Albus picked up her hand, squeezing gently. He understood how much Minerva cared about her students, past and present, even though she rarely expressed it, and knew this news would hit her hard.

Minerva turned her head away so Albus wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. All her cubs were important to her, yet over the years there had been some students that stood out from the rest. Sirius was one of them. She took a few slow breaths to control her emotions, and then turned back.

After a few more minutes of talking, Albus arose to go and find Minerva's healer, so they could find out how much longer she was going to be stuck in St Mungo's for. He soon returned, beaming widely, saying they had potions for her to ease the pain, and they wanted to keep her overnight for observation, but after that she could return to Hogwarts in the morning. He also mentioned the walking stick.

"A walking stick, Albus? Are you serious? Merlin, I'm not bloody one hundred and sixty! I don't need a walking stick!" Minerva fumed, glaring at Albus when he chuckled.

"I know, my dear. But your Healer was very insistent about it, at least for a few weeks. Anyway, I'm afraid I must leave you; I need to get back to Hogwarts. I'll come back tomorrow morning to get you-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Minerva interrupted firmly. "You don't need to pick me up; I'm perfectly fine getting back to school. I'll come see you in the morning, when I get there."

Albus chuckled lightly at her stubbornness, and placed a light kiss to her hand. They bid each other farewell, and he left the room, leaving Minerva alone to her thoughts.

_**TBC**_

_A/N – Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it. So I decided to skip over the Department Of Mysteries – we all know what happened anyway from the books. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon_

_Also, thanks to Poppinswannabe and Balou for a few ideas for more stories. I'm always on the hunt for new story ideas, so if you have any please send them my way! _

_And I have a question for hermin22 - are you planning on writing any new stories at all? You're definitely one of the best MM/HG non romantic writers, and its been months since you've posted anything new, and I'm sure there are many others who would agree_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The following morning, Minerva was discharged from St Mungo's, after being given a walking stick and four different potions that she needed to take daily for the next week. Minerva was unsure if the Hogwarts floo was working, and she didn't want to take the chance trying it and end up somewhere strange. She floo'd to Hogsmeade, and flagged down the Knight bus to take her to the Hogwarts gate. She normally enjoyed the walk, but her chest and back still hurt, and grudgingly enough she realised she needed to use the walking stick.

As Minerva made her way through the front gate towards the open front doors, she could hear voices floating out. Harry Potter and Severus Snape. They were never a good match together. She quickened her pace, just in time to hear Severus's voice.

"Ah, I see there are no longer any points left in the Gryffindor hour-glass to take away," he sneered. "In that case Potter, we will simply have to-"

"Add some more?" Minerva spoke up, not willing to watch Severus bully one of her students any longer. She frowned at Draco Malfoy and his cronies watching in glee.

"Professor McGonagall! Out of St Mungo's, I see!" he said, striding forwards. Minerva managed to detect the faint trace of sarcasm in his voice, and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Yes Professor Snape," she answered shortly, taking her travelling coat off. She quickly ordered Crabbe and Goyle to take her things to her office, and then awarded fifty points apiece to Harry and his friends for the events at the Department of Mystery. She took great satisfaction at the livid expression that crossed Severus's face momentarily.

"Well Potter, Malfoy, I think you should be outside on a glorious day like this," Minerva said loudly, and Harry nodded back with a small, but grateful smile. He hurried off, and she turned and swept up the nearest staircase.

All she really wanted to do was go to the Hospital Wing and see how Hermione was going. When Albus had told her how Hermione got hurt at the Ministry, Minerva's heart had leapt into her throat, and although he had reassured her that her student was fine, Minerva still wouldn't be fully sure until she saw for herself. However, she had promised Albus that she would find him once she made it back to the school, and the trip from St Mungo's to Hogwarts had exhausted her. She really needed to lie down for a moment._ A short nap couldn't hurt,_ she mused to herself, _and then I'll check in with Albus and swing by the Hospital Wing._ She reached the portrait guarding her rooms, and quickly entered. She made her way to her bedroom, and smiled lightly as she stepped over to her bed. The quilt was slightly rumpled, and she hazarded a guess that Hermione fell asleep here after contacting Albus in the middle of her night. Her thoughts were confirmed as she lay down and could faintly detect a trace of the vanilla scented soap Hermione used. Yawning slightly, Minerva closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Minerva….Min…Minerva, wake up!!"

Minerva's eyes flew open and she sat up fast. It took a moment to work out where she was, and a glance around her bedroom showed Rolanda and Poppy sitting on the edge of her bed, peering worriedly at her. "What, what is it, what's wrong?" she asked, her thoughts jumping to the worst.

"Whoa, its okay, nothing's wrong," Poppy replied quickly, calming her down slightly. "We came in to see if you wanted dinner, and you were tossing and mumbling in your sleep, so we thought it would be best to wake you up. Did you have a nightmare?"

Minerva paused, and the memory of her attack came flooding back. She remembered now what she was dreaming about, and it had been a nightmare, but she wasn't about to admit to it. "No, I don't know what I was dreaming about…wait, did you say dinner?"

Rolanda nodded. "Yeah Minerva, its eight at night. What time did you think it was?"

"Damn, I was supposed to meet Albus as soon as I got back! I was exhausted though, I just was going to have a quick nap," she replied, slightly annoyed at herself.

"Don't worry, Severus mentioned to him that you were back, and he got me to check on you around noon. You were fast asleep then, and I didn't want to wake you," Poppy told her. "He said to just let you sleep, and see if you wanted dinner."

Now that she was awake, Minerva could feel her stomach rumbling. She smiled, and moved to get out of bed.

"Wait a minute Minerva," Poppy said, placing a hand on Minerva's shoulder to stop her from getting up. "Dobby!" she called.

There was a crack, and Dobby appeared. He nodded at Poppy, and snapped his fingers. Three hot meals appeared on the bedside table, and he disappeared with another loud crack.

The three women each took a plate, and after Rolanda and Poppy made themselves more comfortable on the bed, they began to eat. They began to chat lightly through dinner, and after they had finished Poppy banished the plates and the two visitors arose.

"Well, I better get back to the Hospital Wing, and make sure no one else has nearly killed themselves," Poppy said dryly, then winced slightly as she realised what she said. Minerva smiled to show her it was fine.

"Thanks for coming, I'll see you at breakfast," Minerva told her. Poppy nodded, and exited the bedroom.

Rolanda moved to leave the room, and then seemed to hesitate slightly.

"Ro? Are you okay?" Minerva asked with a touch of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rolanda replied. She turned back around and perched on the edge of the bed. "I, uh, I had a little chat with Miss Granger just after you were attacked," she said slowly.

Minerva raised her eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"Min, she was pretty upset that you got hurt. She really looks up to you, you know. She told me about your Animagus training, and the promise you made her about the summer." Rolanda watched Minerva's face as she spoke, and noticed how Minerva smiled slightly when she said how Hermione looked up to her.

"I really care about her, she's such an amazing girl and to have parents who don't care…" Minerva drifted off slightly as she remembered Hermione crying to her about not being wanted. Quickly, she cleared her throat and glanced back at Rolanda. "I wish she hadn't seen me get attacked. She didn't need that, not with the stress she's had over exams and everything."

Rolanda smiled. "Well, I might just happen to know that Ron's asleep right now; Poppy gave him a sleeping potion with his dinner, and Hermione sleeps with her curtain drawn and a silencing spell cast around it to block out his snoring. She should still be awake now…anyway, I better get going, and I'll see you in the morning." She reached over and gave Minerva a hug, muttering "I'm glad your back," in her ear. Flashing Minerva a wide grin, she bounced off the bed and left Minerva alone to her thoughts.

_I'm really lucky to have friends like Ro and Poppy,_ Minerva thought to herself as she climbed out of bed. She ignored the shooting pains in her chest, and picked up the walking stick that she had abandoned on the floor. Slowly, she made her way out of her rooms and up to the Hospital Wing, where she saw Ron fast asleep on a bed with Poppy nowhere to be found. There was curtains drawn around the next bed, but a soft glow came from underneath it.

Minerva hurried over as quickly as her walking stick allowed, and slowly peered around the edge of the curtain. Hermione lay on the bed before her, her wand emitting a glow as she held it in front of the book she was holding. Her attention was completely focused on the book, however as Minerva moved slightly Hermione noticed and glanced up.

"Minerva?" Hermione said slowly, not sure if she was seeing correctly. The older woman smiled, and quickly conjured a chair next to the bed which she promptly sat down upon.

"Yes Hermione, it's me. How are you feeling?" Minerva asked, reaching over and brushing a stray piece of hair off Hermione's face. Instead of replying, Hermione brought her hand up and caught Minerva's hand. She held it for a moment, then suddenly reached over and threw her arms around Minerva's neck.

Ignoring the sudden pains in her chest, Minerva hugged the girl back just as tightly.

"I thought you...I thought…" Hermione said, her voice muffled by Minerva's shoulder, and Minerva could feel Hermione shaking slightly as if she were crying. She rubbed slow soothing circles on her back, bringing her other hand up to stroke the bushy brown hair.

"Shh, its okay, I'm right here," Minerva whispered gently.

After several long moments, Hermione finally withdrew, wiping away a few tears as she repositioned herself in the bed so that she was sitting propped up against the pillows. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling herself calming back down. "I knew you were okay, Professor Dumbledore came to see me this morning and told me you would be back today. I guess, uh…"

"It's okay, I understand," Minerva replied with a soft smile. "I wish you hadn't seen it, I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. It was amazing what you did, to stand up to _her_ like that. I was so scared for you though, I'm glad you're okay," Hermione replied.

"Don't worry; I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. However, by the looks of it I'm not the only one out risking their lives. I heard about the Department Of Mysteries, and everything you did. You helped protect the Wizarding world."

Hermione flushed slightly. "I didn't really do much, it was mainly Harry-"

"Don't get all modest, you were a real asset to Harry, he couldn't have done it without you," Minerva interrupted. "I'm so proud of you. I hate that you've been hurt from it, but I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Hermione replied, trying not to smile too much from the compliment.

"I want you to take it easy this summer. I don't want you to be studying the whole time, I want you to have plenty of rest and have a bit of fun," Minerva told her, picking up her hand lightly.

A flicker of uncertainty flashed quickly across Hermione's face, however Minerva caught it and smiled reassuringly. "Yes, I still want you to stay with me," she said gently. "My home is always open to you; I want you to never forget that."

"Thanks Minerva," Hermione said sincerely, giving her hand a grateful squeeze. They shared a warm smile, until Hermione interrupted the moment with a loud yawn.

"It's getting late, you should probably get some sleep," Minerva said gently, slowly getting to her feet. Hermione nodded. Now that she thought about it, she was feeling quite tired.

Minerva leaned down and gave her a hug, which Hermione returned. After a few moments, they separated, and after bidding each other goodnight Minerva slowly made her way out of the Hospital Wing.

_**TBC**_

* * *

_A/N – Hope this wasn't too fluffy. I'm going on holidays tomorrow so this will be my last chapter for the next two weeks, as I doubt I'd be able to get online. But I hope you enjoyed this, and thanks for all your reviews _


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Her trunk was packed, sitting upright next to her freshly made bed. Crookshanks lay curled up next to her on the windowsill as she gazed out over the Hogwarts grounds. It was the last day of term, and very soon she would be getting on the train and leaving for the next three months. However, for the first time since her first year, she was looking forward to the summer.

"Hermione, you better hurry, the coaches are here," called a voice, and Hermione turned to see Lavender and Parvati hurrying into the dormitory to grab their trunks.

"Thanks guys. Have a good summer," Hermione replied warmly, slowly getting up as the two girls left. She grabbed Crookshanks under one arm and used her free hand to lug her trunk behind her, and left the dorm with a slight bounce to her step.

Reaching the common room, she saw Harry and Ron waiting for her. Together, they made their way to the Entrance Hall; and after farewelling a few students they claimed a carriage and were on their way to the station.

The entire train ride, both Hermione and Harry were somewhat quiet. Hermione could see the pain reflected in Harry's eyes when he glanced at her, yet she wasn't sure what to do. She knew that he needed time to heal to move past Sirius's death, and it was still too fresh to discuss, but she wanted to ensure that she would be there for him when he was ready. When Ron got up to go to the bathroom, leaving Harry and Hermione alone, she seized the moment.

"Harry? I'm not going to say much, I know that you don't want to talk," she said. "But I'm always here for you, whenever you are ready. I hope you know that."

"Thanks Hermione. I'm glad you understand, and I might take you up on that later," Harry replied with a cracked smile. "Will you be going to Grimmauld Place at all this summer?"

Hermione thought of her upcoming plans to spend the summer with Minerva. They hadn't really discussed how long she would stay, or if she would spend part of the summer at Grimmauld Place. Hermione didn't like not being truthful to Harry, but she and Minerva had never really talked about discussing their friendship with others, it was more an unspoken agreement to keep it private.

"I'm sure I will sooner or later, we can talk then if you like," she said carefully. "And you can owl me anytime. I don't want to sound pushy at all, but I know how Ron can be at times," Hermione replied dryly. Harry grinned at this, and then they both stopped talking as the compartment door slid open and Ron entered again. They began to chat lightly, and Hermione couldn't help but notice that Harry seemed slightly more cheerful.

* * *

Minerva and Hermione had spoken the night before, so when Hermione stepped onto the platform she didn't get worried when the older woman wasn't waiting. She spotted Mr and Mrs Weasley, and after saying goodbye to Ron and Ginny they hurried over to their parents.

"There's my uncle. He looks pretty impatient, I better go," Harry said to her as his eyes scanned over the crowd.

"Okay, take care, I'll see you soon. Write me," Hermione replied, and she watched as he reluctantly made his way over to his uncle.

Hermione pulled her trunk along to a small seat in a corner of the station, and sat down. She set Crookshanks' carry case next to her, and put her hand inside to stroke his ears. She could just hear his purring, enjoying the attention. She pulled a book out of her trunk, and began to read.

* * *

Minerva made her way into the station with the help of her walking stick; her sharp eyes scanning the station until they stopped upon a young girl sitting off to the side, absorbed in a book. Minerva smiled; she wasn't surprised to find Hermione like this. She headed over, and when Hermione didn't glance up she placed a hand on her shoulder.

Hermione's head snapped up when she felt the touch, and a smile spread on her face when she saw it was her teacher.

"Had a good train ride?" Minerva asked as Hermione put her book away. She reached out and tapped the trunk with her wand, making it shrink and slipping it into her pocket.

"It was okay. I had a little chat with Harry; he's not ready to talk or anything but he's doing alright," Hermione replied as she picked up the cat carrier.

"Good. Well, let's go to the bathroom, we can apparate to my home from there. I'll bring you along by side-along apparition," Minerva said, leading the way. They entered a small bathroom, and after checking that it was completely empty Minerva reached out and took a firm hold of Hermione's arm. Together, they turned and found themselves being pulled through space.

A second later they were standing out in the sunshine. Before them stood a large, beautifully designed brick house. It was two storeys, with a large porch and sweeping drive.

"Well, this is my home," Minerva said as they began to walk up the drive.

"It's beautiful! Did you grow up here?" Hermione asked, slightly in awe.

"No, I never had the easiest childhood either with my parents. I left home straight after Hogwarts, and got into the Auror program. I rented an apartment until I had saved enough, then I bought this house. I only live here now during the summer, but I love it here," Minerva replied. They reached the front door, and Minerva pushed it open to reveal an equally stunning front hall.

As Hermione took in her surroundings, Minerva took the cat carrier out of the girls' hands and set it on the floor. She knelt down and opened the door, allowing Crookshanks to step out cautiously. He sniffed the air, adjusting to his surroundings, and Minerva stroked him several times before rising to her feet.

"Okay, how about I show you to your bedroom?" she asked, gesturing to the staircase. "Then I can show you the rest of the house."

Hermione nodded, and picked up the empty cat carrier. Minerva took out her wand and levitated the trunk, and they both headed up the stairway and down a corridor. They passed a couple of doors, which Minerva pointed out as the bathroom and a spare room, before stopping at another door. Minerva twisted the knob to reveal a spacious, sunny room. A queen bed sat in the middle, covered with a beautiful red and gold silk quilt, and stained timber furniture filled the rest of the room. The best feature however, was the large window seat, adorned with plush pillows and overlooking a sparkling lake.

"Minerva, this room is beautiful!" Hermione breathed as she took in her surroundings.

Minerva floated the trunk to the foot of the bed and slipped her wand back in her robes. She then wrapped an arm loosely around Hermione's shoulders. "I'm glad you like it, since it's your room now."

"Wow…thanks," Hermione replied softly, leaning slightly into Minerva's side. Minerva smiled and pulled the girl into a proper hug before releasing her.

"Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house, and we can just relax for the rest of the day."

Minerva showed Hermione her bedroom, before heading downstairs to show her the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, living room, and finally stopped at the last door. "This room, I'm sure you'll like," Minerva said with a twitch at the corner of her mouth, twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

It was a huge room, lined with bookcases. A large desk to study at sat in one corner, and several plush lounges and armchairs sat in a half-circle surrounding a fireplace built into one wall.

Hermione stepped into the library, gazing at the titles on the nearest bookcase. By the looks of it, the many volumes were broken up into categories and organized accordingly.

"Okay, before I lose you completely in here, it's nearly lunchtime. I was thinking that we go and make lunch, and for the rest of the afternoon we can take a few books out to the lake and eat, read, just relax. How does that sound?" Minerva asked, noticing Hermione's excitement in her eyes at such a large, unexplored library.

"What…oh, right. Sure, that sounds nice," Hermione replied, tearing herself away and following Minerva to the kitchen. They set to work making lunch, Minerva making sandwiches after she set Hermione up slicing up some fruit. They packed it into containers, and after spending ten minutes in the library to select a few books, they headed outside into the warm sunshine.

"I love coming down to the lake in the summer," Minerva said, holding her head up slightly, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face. "It's just so calming, especially after a long school year." She transfigured a rock into a large blanket, and they both stretched out on it, spreading the food between them.

They made light conversation as they ate, talking about what trouble Harry and Ron would most likely get into the following year, and about an article in the most recent Transfiguration Today magazine. However, after awhile Minerva decided to approach a more serious topic, and asked the younger girl a question that had been bothering her for awhile.

"Hermione…I understand if you don't trust me enough, or you'd rather not discuss it, but I was wondering if you would mind telling me a bit more about your parents, and what it was like for you growing up?" she asked cautiously, hoping Hermione wouldn't get upset by the question.

Hermione sighed slightly. "Of course I trust you, I'll tell you anything. And considering you are taking me in for the summer, you deserve to know why. Okay. Well, for as long as I can remember, I haven't gotten along with my parents. They're fairly wealthy, and are always working or socialising. Their social life is very important to them. They had never planned on having children either, and when I was eight I overheard my mother telling a friend of hers that I had been an accident. Since I was never pretty, or into clothes, or had many friends, I didn't have much in common with them. They have never shown any interest in me, and I was mainly raised by the maid. However, once I started at Hogwarts, my relationship with my parents has gotten worse. The only time they speak to me is to criticize me, or tell me how much I've disappointed them. They're a lot worse if they've been to a party and had a few drinks."

Hermione paused to take a breath, and Minerva seized the moment.

"They've never…physically hurt you though?"

Hermione hesitated slightly, and Minerva's eyes widened in worry. "What happened?"

"It's okay, it didn't happen much," Hermione replied somewhat nonchalantly. "If my father had a few too many drinks, and I did something wrong, he'd hit me. My mother preferred to slap me. But I deserved it-"

"Don't say that!" Minerva interrupted forcefully, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder gently. "I don't care what your parents may have said, they had no right whatsoever to touch you. You're a beautiful, special girl, so don't think for a second you deserved that. Why didn't you ever speak to me about it?"

"It never happened that much, besides I was only there in the holidays, I tried to stay at Hogwarts for holidays in the school year. The times I did have to go there during the school year, I'd know it would only be for a week so I'd rarely leave my bedroom. If I stayed at Hogwarts the whole time, it might seem a bit weird to everyone else." Hermione gave Minerva a small, sad smile, causing a pang of sorrow in the older woman's chest.

"But why didn't you ever say something?" Minerva asked gently.

"It didn't seem that bad. Besides, what right do I have to complain when Harry has to live with his aunt and uncle in the holidays? They're horrible; I can put up with my parents if he can stay with them," she replied.

Minerva sighed softly. "I know how the Dursleys are. I tried to argue with Albus when we took Harry there when he was a baby, and I kept fighting for a good week after. But it's the only safe place for Harry. There are blood wards in place, so that absolutely nothing can happen to Harry whilst he is there. And he must go back there every summer, for at least a few weeks, to renew the wards. There just isn't a way that is safer, not while he is a child. And I'm aware how the Dursleys are. I visit Harry every week during the summer in my Animagus form to make sure he's okay. If anything happened to him that was life threatening, I'd definitely step in."

"You visit him every week?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Of course," Minerva replied with a smile. "I care about all my students, and I worry about Harry a lot during the summer. If I could, I would have taken him in when he was a baby, but Albus wouldn't let me. I wouldn't speak to him for a week, until I understood the blood wards more. But I care about Harry a lot more than I show."

"You know, you should tell him sometime," Hermione suggested, and Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Harry has never had a mother figure in his life, and he really respects you," Hermione continued. "I know it would mean a lot to him to know you care about him."

"I'll keep that in mind…but going back to you, you shouldn't compare your situation to Harry's. I know they don't treat him well, but he has never been hit, I made sure of that. What your parents did was wrong, and I promise it will never happen again, okay? You deserve better than them."

Hermione smiled, and leaned over to hug Minerva. It was a nice feeling, to know someone cared that much about her – she had never had that before.

When they separated, Minerva glanced around at the leftovers on the blanket. "Did you still want anything more to eat?" she asked. When Hermione shook her head, Minerva waved her wand at the food, banishing it back to the house. "Oh, by the way, I have some good news for you," she said casually.

"What?" Hermione replied; glad to stop discussing her parents.

"My home is warded against magic detection, so you're allowed to use magic here," Minerva told her, smiling lightly as Hermione's face lit up. "Just don't tell anyone, or we both could get into trouble."

"I promise," Hermione replied, picking up her wand with a smile. She summoned the books that were sitting two feet away, and the two women spent the next few hours enjoying the warm sun.

_**TBC**_

* * *

_A/N – So sorry for the long wait between updates. Hit a bit of writer's block, and I'm not hugely happy with this chapter, but I can't keep re-writing. Hope you like it, more on it's way soon_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Much later that afternoon, once they returned back to the house, Hermione went to her room to unpack and settle in. Minerva unpacked her own bags she had brought with her from Hogwarts, and then busied herself making dinner for them both.

"Hermione, dinner's ready!" Minerva called up the staircase, and after she heard a faint voice reply, she headed back into the kitchen. Unlike many other witches and wizards, Minerva preferred to cook the muggle way, finding it much more relaxing. She enjoyed to cook, yet rarely got the opportunity at Hogwarts since the house elves handled the meals.

Minerva conjured two bottles of butterbeer and set them on the table, just as Hermione entered the kitchen.

"Mmm, smells nice," Hermione said as she and Minerva took their seats.

"It's just spaghetti, something easy since we only got back from school today," Minerva replied. "I managed to get some fresh food from school for a couple days, but I'm planning on heading into town tomorrow to stock up on groceries. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," Hermione replied. "Is the town big?"

"Not particularly, it's a muggle village…actually, we might as well apparate into Hogsmeade, and it's a bit nicer there. I'll be able to run a few errands then."

"Alright, that would be good actually since I need to duck into Gladrags and get some summer clothes, I didn't bring much to Hogwarts," Hermione replied, casually glancing down at her food and hoping Minerva wouldn't read between the lines. She was out of luck however.

"If you'd like to, that's fine, but if you are willing, I want to go to your parents home sometime this next week," Minerva said carefully, watching Hermione for her reaction. "That way you can get your belongings and anything you want to bring here. Don't worry though, I can come with you and I won't allow anything to happen to you."

"I understand," Hermione replied resignedly. "I figured I'd have to go back there sooner or later. Can we go soon, to get it over with?"

"Sure," Minerva replied, "we can make it the day after tomorrow. Will your parents be home?"

"I don't know. They only told me not to come back; they didn't say anything about what they were doing. They often try to go away for at least a few weeks during the holidays, if they can get the time off work, and I stay back. Hopefully they'll be away when we go."

Although she had heard the girl say it before, it still slightly unnerved Minerva to hear the tone of acceptance in Hermione's voice. She was only sixteen, yet was speaking in a way that seemed somewhat too mature for her age, and seemed too complacent with her situation. No child her age should be used to the idea that their parents don't want them. _Then again,_ Minerva mused to herself, _she's not really a child anymore. She's a young woman. She's already seen more bad things than some people twice her age._

"Minerva?" Hermione said tentatively, noticing her professor wasn't paying attention anymore.

Minerva shook her head quickly to clear her mind. "Sorry, lost in thought," she apologized quickly. "That's fine, we'll go anyway."

The two women finished their meals mostly in silence, each pondering their own thoughts. Once finished, Minerva cast a scourgify spell on the plates and sent them zooming back to their cupboards, sparkling clean.

As they both began to leave the kitchen, Hermione stopped short. "Minerva, where's your walking stick?" she asked in concern. The older woman had used it all day, at the station and down at the lake, yet now it was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm fine, I don't need it right now," Minerva replied slightly evasively.

"Are you sure? I just don't want you getting hurt more," Hermione replied.

Minerva could detect a slight hint of worry in the girl's voice, and smiled. "I appreciate your concern. I know I need to use it, however I won't allow myself to become completely dependent on it. At the moment, I can handle moving from room to room, however if we are to go out I assure you I will be using it." She moved a few steps closer to Hermione and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Come on, I'm up for a game of chess. Interested?"

Hermione was still slightly worried for her mentor, yet knew better than to press the issue. Minerva McGonagall was a proud, strong woman, and Hermione didn't want to risk offending her in the slightest. She simply nodded, and the two women made their way together to the library, where a beautiful marble muggle chess set was waiting, all set up and ready to be played.

"You have a muggle chess set?" Hermione asked somewhat in surprise.

"I can't stand wizard ones, particularly when the pieces start badmouthing each other," Minerva replied with a slight grin. "Albus got me this for Christmas many years ago."

"I'm nowhere near as good as Ron is, but I'm not too big a fan of wizard sets either," Hermione said as they sat down to play. "It takes some of the skill out of the game."

"That's exactly what I said to Albus," Minerva said with a grin. She swished her wand and conjured two cups of tea, their favourite drink. The two began to play, sipping their tea and making light chatter between moves.

* * *

Minerva's eyes snapped open. She couldn't see, the room around her was pitch black. However, her senses began to kick in before her brain began to panic, and she realised she was in her bed and it was the middle of the night. What puzzled her though was what caused her to wake up. Minerva was normally a light sleeper, but she wasn't at Hogwarts, a castle filled with sound.

Suddenly, Minerva's sharp hearing caught a slight sound. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she grabbed her wand from the nightstand and cast a lumos charm. Pointing the beam of light ahead of her, she made her way out of bed and into the dark, shadowy hallway.

Here, Minerva could hear a soft muffled noise coming from Hermione's bedroom. She padded lightly down the hall and gently eased open the door. The beam of light from her wand fell gently across the girl's bed, where Minerva could see Hermione asleep. The young which was whimpering slightly in her sleep, and tossing under the covers.

Minerva hurried over and perched on the side of the bed. "Hermione…Hermione, wake up…its okay sweetheart," she whispered soothingly, rubbing her gently on the arm.

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and for a moment her eyes darted around the room, before stopping on Minerva.

"It's alright, you're safe here. It was only a nightmare," Minerva said gently, bringing her hand up to run her fingers through the girl's hair.

Hermione closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths to slow her racing heart. The images were slowly fading from her mind, and once she had calmed down she opened her eyes to see Minerva's worried ones gazing back at her.

"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want to though," Minerva said softly.

"It's okay, I'm fine now. I just have dreams about everything that's happened; at the Ministry, and with You-Know-Who back."

"It's okay; it's completely natural for you to have nightmares after everything that has happened. But you're safe here; I'll never let anything happen to you. It's okay to go back to sleep now."

Hermione gave a small smile and leaned back onto her pillows. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to be lulled asleep by the gentle strokes of Minerva's hand through her hair.

Minerva watched the young witch drift off to sleep and felt another sharp maternal pang. More and more every day, she was caring about Hermione as if she was her daughter, not her student. Minerva had never gotten married; not to mention had any children, yet she saw her Gryffindor cubs as 'her kids'. However, Hermione had gotten her way into her heart. She loved the girl as if she were her own, and it made her so glad to know Hermione was here, at her home this summer, where Minerva could watch over her and keep her safe.

Crookshanks sprang lightly onto the bed, and Minerva smiled at him. He rubbed up slightly against her and allowed Minerva to scratch behind his ears, before curling up next to Hermione.

"Watch over her, Crookshanks," Minerva whispered softly with a smile, as she carefully rose up as to not awaken the sleeping girl. The cat yawned in response, and Minerva smiled lightly before tiptoeing out of the room.

* * *

The following morning, Minerva woke up slowly and yawned. As it was now the summer, she could sleep in, a treat she rarely got during the school year at Hogwarts. Glancing at the wall clock, she realised it was only eight-thirty and was just about to roll over and go back to sleep for a little longer when she noticed a delicious smell wafting into her bedroom.

Curious, she climbed out of bed and slipped on her silk robe, tying the belt as she headed out of her room and down the sweeping staircase. She followed the smell to the kitchen, where Hermione was standing with her back turned at the stove.

"Mmm, something smells nice," Minerva said as she headed over to the kettle and filled it with hot water.

Hermione glanced behind her and smiled. "Good morning. I was up early, figured I'd make breakfast. I was just going to bring yours upstairs for you."

"Thanks. So you're still up for going into Hogsmeade today?" Minerva asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice. How long do you think we will be there?" Hermione replied, pulling a few plates out of a cupboard and loading them with scrambled eggs. She moved over to the toaster, where several fresh pieces of toast had just popped up.

"Oh, however long we'd like, I suppose," Minerva mused. "Maybe have lunch there. But when we get home, I was thinking we can start your Animagus training again, what do you think?"

"Yes, definitely! I haven't trained in about four weeks now, I hope I haven't forgotten everything!" Hermione replied, thrilled at the fact she was going to be able to finally resume her training.

"Knowing you, I highly doubt that," Minerva replied as she brought two fresh cups of tea over to the kitchen table. Hermione followed with the plates, and they began to eat whilst chatting about the latest topics in Transfiguration Daily.

Once finished their breakfast, they tidied up before heading upstairs. As Hermione had already had a shower earlier that morning, she went to her room to unpack the rest of her belongings whilst Minerva showered and got ready for the day.

As soon as she was ready, Minerva knocked on Hermione's door and entered once the young girl called out. Hermione smiled to herself when she saw Minerva had her walking stick with her.

"All ready to go?" Minerva asked. "We'll apparate there, and since you know where you're going you don't need to come along by Side Along Apparition. I'll meet you outside the Three Broomsticks?"

"Okay, see you in a moment," replied Hermione, and turned on the spot. There was a loud crack, and the next moment Hermione found herself standing outside the popular pub. There was another crack, and Minerva appeared next to her.

"Shall we?" Minerva asked with a smile. The younger witch nodded, and they began to make their way down the main street of Hogsmeade, glancing into windows as they walked.

As they passed the Hogsmeade branch of Gringotts, Hermione paused. "Do you mind if we stop in here?" she asked.

"Not at all," Minerva replied as they turned to enter the bank. "I actually wanted to talk to you about money. I doubt your parents gave you any…"

"Nope," Hermione answered. "But I've been working each summer since Hogwarts started. Mostly odd jobs for the neighbours, and babysitting. It got me out of the house, and I saved every cent I earned. I've been taking care of myself, financially for years."

Minerva's eyebrows raised a fraction, surprised. Although it shouldn't have come as such a shock, considering Hermione _was_ one of the brightest students she had had in her entire teacher. "Well, I don't want you spending all your hard earned money, so I want -"

"No, I can't let you do that!" Hermione replied immediately, cutting Minerva off.

"Hermione, I have more than enough money of my own that's just sitting in Gringotts. It would make me happy to put it to good use. So let me make you a deal. I know how independent you are, and you clearly sound like you can take care of yourself. But I refuse to let you pay for everything of yours. Let me pay for all your school supplies, like your robes and books. And any necessities, like day to day items you'd need. Anything you want that's not school related, or for fun, you can pay for," Minerva replied. She could see Hermione hesitating, and reached out to touch the girl gently on the arm. "Please. Let me do this for you."

"Okay," Hermione finally relented. "But I will pay you back once I'm out of school and have a job. Consider it just a loan."

"Yes, well we'll agree on that when the time comes," Minerva replied with a slight grin. "Come on." The two women made their way into Gringotts, where they went to the counter and each withdrew money. They tucked it into their pockets and made their way out, where they spent the rest of the morning leisurely strolling along the stores. Hermione picked up her book list – courtesy of Minerva, as the lists hadn't been sent out yet. She also got new school robes and potion supplies, which she thanked Minerva profusely for. She then spent some of her savings on new casual clothes to wear in the summer and on weekends at school.

They had lunch at a quaint little café that was tucked around near The Hogs Head. After they ate, they spent a decent amount of time perusing through the books at the bookshop, before ducking into the wizard grocery store and finally apparating home.

Hermione went upstairs to her bedroom to put her newly purchased items away, whilst Minerva unpacked the groceries they had bought. Once completed, she waited for Hermione to return.

"Okay, so for the rest of the afternoon," she began when Hermione entered the kitchen, "would you be interested in continuing your Animagus training?"

A huge grin broke out on Hermione's face, and she nodded eagerly. "Definitely. I hope I'm not too out of shape, I haven't practiced since before exams."

Minerva chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Okay, well let's go into the living room, there should be enough space there." They made their way out of the kitchen, and when they reached the living room Minerva waved her wand, sending the lounges and coffee table sailing to the corner, leaving a nice open space in the middle.

"Okay, let's begin," Minerva said, and they moved to stand apart from each other. Hermione slowly exhaled, and they began.

_**TBC**_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Okay, so to start with I just want you to go over wand transformations, until you have it down perfectly. Then you can start on wandless transformations," Minerva instructed. Hermione nodded, and began to cast the transformation spell, concentrating intensely. The first several attempts did not work completely, only partial transformations, yet after about ten tries she was able to completely change. The transformation only lasted a few seconds, before she changed back.

"How can I stay as a cat longer?" Hermione asked, wanting to get used to the small cat body.

"The longest you can stay in a transformation is about a minute, with a wand," Minerva replied. "Using a wand to transform is not complete Animagi. You need to master the wandless transformation, and once that happens you can then transform at will, back and forth for as long as you'd like."

Hermione nodded, and continued to practice transforming with her wand for the next hour until she could remain in the transformation for close to a minute. After she changed back, she took several slow breaths.

"It's exhausting work, I know," Minerva said. "Let's go and get a drink and rest a moment before you continue. When we get back to it I'll get you to start on wandless."

Hermione agreed, and they headed into the kitchen where Minerva poured them both glasses of cool orange juice. "I like pumpkin juice, but I get so sick of it by the end of the year," Minerva explained as she poured. "I usually stick with orange juice or iced tea during the summer."

The two women began to chat about aimless topics whilst they finished their drinks. Hermione spelled the glasses clean, and then they headed back into the living room to continue the training.

* * *

After a couple hours of further training, Hermione had managed to change her eyes to a deep green, and her teeth pointy. Wandless transformations were exhausting, however Minerva assured her that it was only difficult to make the initial transformation – after she succeeded, she could easily change at will.

After a quick dinner, they made their way into the library and got comfortable on the lounges each with a good book. Minerva, however, couldn't help but sneak a couple of casual glances over at Hermione. The girl didn't appear to be concentrating too hard on her book, and Minerva had a good idea it had something to do with the fact that they were going to visit her parents the following day.

"I think some tea would be nice right now, do you want some too?" Minerva asked casually as she marked the page in her book and placed it on the couch as she stood.

"That would be great, thanks," Hermione replied with a smile.

Minerva made her way into the kitchen and quickly prepared two cups of tea. However, she silently summoned a small bottle from the medicine cabinet and poured the contents into Hermione's tea. Some Dreamless Sleep potion should allow the girl to rest without nightmares for once, something she would need for the day ahead.

"Here," Minerva said as she re-entered the library, holding the tainted mug out to Hermione.

"Thanks Minerva," Hermione replied, gratefully accepting the tea. Minerva returned to her seat, and sipped at her tea whilst watching Hermione take several long sips. About ten minutes later, Hermione was fast asleep, and Minerva carefully eased the mug out of her hands. She cast a levitating spell upon the younger witch, and floated her out of the room and up to her bedroom. Minerva pulled the covers back before allowing the spell to end, so Hermione was now resting on her bed. She pulled the covers back over the sleeping girl, and after stroking her hair lightly Minerva tiptoed out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.

* * *

Breakfast the following morning was a solemn affair. Minerva eyed Hermione carefully over rim of her tea, noting the slightly anxious expression on the girl's face. "You know, we don't have to go today," she said gently.

Hermione sighed softly and gave her teacher a small smile. "No, we have to go sooner or later. I'd rather just get it over and done with."

"I know you're a bit anxious, but it will be fine," Minerva reassured her. Hermione simply nodded and took their plates and cups to the sink, quickly washing them up. Minerva drained the last of her tea and followed over to the sink with the empty cup. "Alright, we'll go now then," she said. "Are you ready?"

Hermione drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it, calming her nerves. "Ready," she replied, reaching her hand out. Minerva gently grasped it with hers and after giving a quick, comforting squeeze she turned on the spot and apparated them away.

They reappeared in a well groomed backyard. While Minerva took in her surroundings, Hermione reached out under a ceramic turtle and retrieved a slightly dirty key. Unlocking the door, she led the way into the pristine house as she listened cautiously for any sounds of movement. As they reached the front hall, Hermione peeped out of the front window and smiled in relief.

"The car's gone, so we're the only one's here," she said in a relieved tone.

"Okay, well let's get going," Minerva replied. She followed Hermione up the sweeping staircase and down the hallway to a closed door.

"Well, this is my room," Hermione said as she opened the door. They stepped inside, and Minerva glanced around to take in her surroundings. The walls were painted a soft yellow, and there was a light blue quilt on the bed. A chest of drawers stood tall in the corner, and the only other piece of furniture was a study desk against the wall. Several piles of books sat atop it. Aside from that, the room looked fairly bare and impersonalised. Hermione noticed Minerva glancing around.

"I don't keep much here," she explained. "Since I try to spend most of my holidays at Hogwarts, I take as much of my belongings with me that will fit in my trunk. These books and most of my muggle clothes wouldn't fit in, so I left them here."

"Well, that will make it easier for us then," Minerva replied with a small smile. She reached into her pocket and drew out a miniature trunk, and magically resized it. Together they began to pack the last of Hermione's belongings, chatting about different Transfigurations theories as they worked. Minerva figured it was a safe topic to keep Hermione distracted.

Once finished, Minerva re-shrunk the trunk and stowed it away back into her pocket. They opened the bedroom door, and both immediately froze as they heard noises coming from downstairs. Hermione turned to look at Minerva, fear clearly evident in her eyes.

"Can we apparate home from here?" she asked in barely a whisper, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking.

Minerva shook her head slowly. "I can't, there are apparition fields set up at all muggle students houses. I can only apparate us away from the garden." She squared her shoulders and carefully took hold of Hermione's upper arm. "Come on, let's go. Don't worry, I'm here with you. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise."

She began to lead the way into the hallway and down the staircase, half pulling Hermione along behind her. However, as they were nearly at the bottom, Minerva's foot landed on a step and it emitted a loud creak. The two women froze, praying it hadn't been heard. Unfortunately, it wasn't their lucky day.

There was a scraping sound, presumably of a chair being pushed backwards, and heavy footsteps. Suddenly, Mr Granger appeared at the foot of the stairs. As soon as his eyes found Hermione's, an ugly frown spread across his face. "What are you doing here?" he snarled. "I thought I told you to stay at that school for the summer." He took several menacing steps up the staircase, and Minerva could feel Hermione shrink back. She carefully manoeuvred her body so it was half shielding Hermione from her father, and drew herself up to her full height.

"Pardon me Mr Granger; we are only here to collect Hermione's belongings-"

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Mr Granger interrupted with a sneer.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School. And Hermione will be staying with me this summer."

"May as well take her every summer, though I don't know why you'd want to," replied Mr Granger.

"Why would I want to?" Minerva repeated. "Only because she's an amazing, intelligent, beautiful girl. You may think she's not good enough for you to be your daughter; however I can assure you that you are completely wrong. She is the one who is too good for you."

"What makes you think you can give her better?" Mr Granger scoffed. "You're just some dried up old hag-"

"Stop."

Minerva turned her head to see Hermione speaking up, glaring in hatred at her father.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't the perfect daughter for you. I apologize for not being pretty, or popular, or sophisticated enough for you. And I don't care how much you don't like me, or talk about me. But you _will not_ speak about Minerva like that," Hermione said softly, yet forcefully.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you little shite!" Mr Granger shouted, his face turning an ugly shade of puce. He reached out angrily as if to grab Hermione by the hair, however Minerva moved in between them as quick as a flash, receiving a blow to the side of her face from his hand. A cut immediately appeared on her lower lip, however she ignored it. Before Mr Granger could move, she whipped her wand out and cast a stunner upon the man. He froze off balance and began to topple down the last couple of steps, however Minerva took no notice.

She took Hermione by the arm, and half dragged her down the rest of the stairs and around the frozen statue of Mr Granger on the ground. However, as they turned the corner, they were met by the sight of Mrs Granger, fury across her face.

Minerva drew herself up to her fullest height and glared at the woman, venom in her eyes. All she could think about was how much emotional – and sometimes physical – pain that the woman had caused Hermione. Minerva allowed all the anger she felt to be portrayed in her facial expression.

She must have come across as truly fearsome, for Mrs Granger shrank back in fright, allowing Minerva and Hermione to pass. Minerva continued to lead Hermione outside, and as soon as they crossed the threshold into the backyard, Minerva pulled Hermione close into a comforting embrace and apparated them away.

* * *

The two women appeared in the library, and Minerva guided them to the lounge. She sat down, however didn't release her hold on Hermione. She reached a hand up to stroke the younger witch's hair, and murmured soothing words.

The stress of the morning finally caught up to Hermione, and it was that combined with the comfort she was receiving from Minerva that made her emotions overflow. She began to cry; silent sobs as she clutched Minerva and buried her face in the woman's shoulder. She released all the pain, and emotional ache that she had been holding from her parents, and let it all out.

Minerva had to take several slow breaths to fight back her own tears. It hurt her so much to see how much Hermione was hurting. She cared about the girl so much, and loved her as if she were her daughter. She wished so much that she could take away the pain that the young witch was feeling.

However, as upset as it made her, Minerva knew how pointless it was to be crying when she was meant to be consoling someone, so she held back her tears. Instead, she held Hermione tighter and tried to offer what comfort she could.

Finally, Hermione's sobs settled down, and eventually she pulled away, wiping her eyes as she did.

"I'm sorry, I made your shoulder all wet," Hermione mumbled, then glanced up at Minerva's face. She gasped, and reached a hand out to gently touch Minerva's cheek. "You're bleeding…you're bleeding and it's all my fault."

"Shh, don't say that," Minerva said, reaching up to take Hermione's soft hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I made a promise to you, when we were in your bedroom, that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. If _he_ had hurt you, I would have broken that promise, and I want you to be able to trust me."

"I do trust you, more than anyone. No one has ever cared about me as much as you do, and I don't just mean lately but ever since I started at Hogwarts, you've always looked out for me. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you," Hermione said, as a few tears slipped out of her eyes.

"Oh, Hermione," Minerva said softly as she pulled the girl into another embrace. "I'll always be here for you, sweetheart, no matter what. You may be my student, but I love you so much, and I'll always care about you." She felt Hermione tense slightly at her words, and felt the girl's grasp tighten slightly.

"I love you too, Minerva," Hermione replied softly. They slowly pulled away, and Minerva smiled warmly at the girl as she reached up to gently wipe a stray tear away.

"Okay, well I think I need to get my lip cleaned up, will you help me?" she asked, getting up off the sofa.

"Of course," Hermione replied as she followed her mentor. The women made their way upstairs and through Minerva's bedroom, into the adjoining bathroom. Minerva reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out a small vial and some cotton buds.

"Is this the same healing lotion that you used on my hand?" Hermione asked, as she took it from her hands. Minerva nodded, and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Hermione poured a small amount of the liquid onto one of the cotton and began to gently dab it onto the cut on Minerva's lip. Within several moments, the cut had completely disappeared, and she replaced the bottle back in the cabinet.

"Okay, well I think we've had enough excitement for today. How about we just enjoy the rest of the day, and we'll just read, and play chess?" Minerva suggested.

"Sure, that sounds good," Hermione replied. Minerva stood and together they made their way back downstairs.

* * *

_**TBC**_

_A/N – So here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy. It's gradually nearing the end, however still several more chapters to come – I just have no idea how to finish it at the moment, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Anyway, more to come soon!_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

The two women spent a quiet day relaxing, mostly just reading and playing chess, and making a stir fry together for dinner. Hermione's cooking skills were excellent, which didn't surprise Minerva, so they enjoyed themselves in the kitchen. They returned to the library after cleaning up from dinner; however Hermione announced she was going to bed at only half past eight. Minerva raised her eyebrows a fraction; however she didn't let Hermione notice her concern.

"Tired, are you?" Minerva asked casually, as she watched Hermione close her book and stand up.

"Yeah. It's been a long day, I think I need to sleep it off," Hermione replied.

"I understand. I think I'll stay up a bit longer, so I'll see you in the morning," Minerva told her. She reached up and gave the younger girl a hug, and after bidding each other goodnight Hermione made her way out of the room.

Now alone, Minerva put her book down and sighed. Her concern for Hermione was growing, particularly after that morning's events. She hadn't had the chance to slip her a sleeping potion, although Poppy had always warned not to use it repeatedly as it had side effects. She would simply have to listen out for her tonight.

Minerva was about to put her book away and find something else to occupy herself when she heard the low chime of someone making a fire call. She moved over to the fireplace, and smiled when she saw Rolanda Hooch's head appear in the flames.

"Hi Minerva, how's the start of your summer going?" Rolanda greeted with a grin.

"Okay, Ro. Are you busy? Come over now if you want, I'm not doing anything," Minerva replied. She moved back a bit to leave, and Rolanda's head disappeared from the fire momentarily to be replaced with her body, quickly stepping out. The two friends embraced briefly, before getting comfortable on the lounges.

"So, how are you? Settled in okay after your attack?" Rolanda asked with a touch of concern to her voice.

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine, I promise. I use the walking stick when I need to, and I'm not exerting myself. So if you do happen to speak to Poppy, which I'm sure you will, please assure her that I'm behaving."

Rolanda chuckled to herself. "I spoke to her earlier today, and she mentioned to me to check how you were. Expect to get a 'surprise' visit from her too in the next couple days."

"Honestly, I wish people would stop fussing over my health," Minerva groaned. "If they should be worried about anyone, it's Albus, what with the amount of sugar he consumes daily."

"True," Rolanda agreed. She paused for a moment as she glanced around the room, then turned her attention back to Minerva. "So, is Miss Granger here? Is she staying with you?"

"Of course," Minerva replied. "She's gone to bed early tonight. We had bit of an emotional morning, and I think it wore her out."

Minerva proceeded to fill Rolanda in on the events of the day, and what Mr Granger said and did. When she mentioned the part where he went for Hermione and hit Minerva instead, Rolanda gasped.

"You call this taking it easy? Minerva, you need to be more careful!" she exclaimed.

"I know Ro, but I wasn't going to let that monster of a human touch Hermione," Minerva replied. "You should have seen the look on her face, it nearly broke my heart. And she was so upset when I apparated us both back here, I was really worried about her."

"So what's going to happen to her now?" Rolanda asked.

Minerva sighed. "I think that's something I'm going to have to discuss with Albus," she answered. "Obviously she's not going to go back to her parents, and that's something she never wants either. And my door is always open to her, for as long as she wants to stay with me. But she will need a legal guardian, which is why I need to talk to Albus."

"You're going to become her guardian?" Rolanda asked, intrigued.

"I don't know. I would love to, but it does depend on what Hermione wants as well. I've only thought of it this morning, after we got back from her parents. The main thing is that she feels wanted, and cared about. She may not want that from me; perhaps the Weasley's would be a better choice."

Minerva went quiet, gazing into the fire. Rolanda gave a soft smile and moved over to Minerva to give her a friendly hug. "Trust me, you mean so much to her. I've only spoken to her once, when we took you to the hospital wing, and it was more than obvious how much she looks up to you. I highly doubt you'll have any trouble convincing her."

"Right, well I'd also have to convince Albus as well," Minerva replied. She sighed, and gave her friend a reassuring smile. "No point worrying about it now anyway. So, have you got anything planned for the summer? Are you going away anywhere?"

The two friends began chatting about Rolanda's summer plans, and soon moved to other subjects. Rolanda was just filling her in on the latest gossip she had heard from Madame Rosmerta when Minerva's ears pricked. Her feline senses were picking up something that Rolanda's human hearing couldn't, and she held up a hand to silence her friend. Rolanda, being used to Minerva's excellent hearing, fell silent.

Suddenly Minerva realised what the noise was. "Ro, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut this night short," she apologized. "Hermione's having a nightmare; I need to go to her."

"That's fine, go. I'll talk to you later," Rolanda replied, giving her friend a quick hug. She flung a small handful of Floo powder into the fire and disappeared in a flash of green flames.

Minerva left the room and hurried up the stairs. She made her way down the hallway, and paused before Hermione's bedroom. Inside, she could hear a soft whimpering noise, so without further hesitation she stepped inside and moved to the bed where she perched carefully next to Hermione.

The young girl was tossing slightly, moaning in her dreams. Minerva placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook gently, calling out her name.

Hermione woke with a start, and shot to a sitting position. She glanced around frantically, and relief flooded her face as she saw Minerva. "It's you," she said slowly, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"Another nightmare?" Minerva asked sympathetically. "Do you want to talk about it?

"It's the same dreams every night," Hermione said slowly. "I see the Ministry, and Harry getting hurt; you getting hurt; my parents…" As she drifted off, Minerva pulled her into a quick hug, before pulling away and standing up.

"Scoot over a bit," Minerva commanded gently, and Hermione obliged, shuffling down to create some space. Minerva lay down, and picked up Hermione's hand. She began to trace patterns into her palm, which Hermione found quite soothing, and she began to relax.

"When Grindelwald was defeated, I knew I didn't want to fight anymore, I wanted to get out of the Auror business," Minerva began softly. "Fortunately, the Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time, Armando Dippet, was retiring that following year. Albus knew I wanted a career change, and as he was leaving his position as Transfiguration Professor to become the new Headmaster, he offered it to me, which I gladly accepted. It was strange, to be back at school, with quite a few of my old professors – who were then my colleagues. But teaching was something I absolutely grew to love, and still do."

As Minerva spoke, Hermione moved her head slightly to rest of Minerva's shoulder. She closed her eyes, and rather than listening to the actual story of Minerva's first few years of teaching, she concentrated on her teacher's voice. The soft Scottish lilt of Minerva's voice was quite soothing, and quite soon it lulled Hermione to sleep.

* * *

The following morning, Hermione awoke to the sun streaming through the window. She yawned and rolled over, debating whether to get up or sleep longer; however her stomach finally won out. She got up and stretched lithely, before making her way downstairs. As she entered the kitchen she half expected to find Minerva, however it was empty except for a piece of parchment on the kitchen table. Curious, she made her way over and scanned it with her eyes.

_Hermione,_

_Sorry I'm not here when you wake up, I've gone to check on Harry. I hope you slept better last night; I will get some Dreamless Sleep potion for you in case you need it tonight. There is breakfast in the fridge for you which you will just need to cast a reheating charm on. Help yourself to anything else. I'll be home in a few hours._

_Love,  
Minerva_

Hermione smiled to herself as she read the note, and placed it back onto the table. She turned to the fridge, where she found a stack of pancakes topped with strawberries, and a bottle of syrup. Putting it on the table and making a quick cup of tea, she summoned a book from the library and began to enjoy her breakfast.

* * *

Meanwhile, Minerva was perched on a brick wall somewhere in England. She was in her cat form, which actually felt great, considering it was the first time she had transformed since before the stunner incident at Hogwarts. The morning sun shone down upon her, and it was quite tempting to stretch out in the warmth.

However, Minerva desisted, instead focusing on the house before her. Inside the house was Harry Potter, although he had yet to make his presence known. In fact, no one in the house had so much as peeked outside, so Minerva simply sat and waited, occasionally glancing around the neighbourhood as to not raise suspicion to any Muggles passing by.

Her efforts were eventually rewarded, as after nearly half an hour had passed, the front door of number four, Privet Drive, swung open. Minerva watched intensely, sniffing slightly in disgust as Vernon Dursley exited, followed closely by Petunia Dursley and an extremely large boy which Minerva realised to be Dudley. The trio of Muggles made their way to the car, all whilst discussing Dudley's latest achievement in boxing.

As soon as the family had gotten into the car and driven out of the street, Minerva sprang lightly down off the brick wall, and stretched her slightly cramped muscles. She then made her way through the garden, taking spiteful pleasure in stepping on several flowers as she made her way to the rear end of the house. Passing the back door, she suddenly started sprinting and lightly climbed up a large fig tree, stopping on a large, sturdy branch about halfway up. From this vantage point, Minerva had a perfect view into Harry Potter's bedroom. However, what she saw shocked her, and a stab of pain shot through her heart.

Through the window, in the small bedroom, Harry Potter was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the bed. His knees were drawn up under his chin and had wrapped his arms around his legs to hold the position. However, the worst part was the tears streaming down his cheeks, and the pure, raw pain clearly evident on his face.

Minerva's heart clenched at the sight and jumped out of the tree without even thinking of her actions. She raced to the back door, and changed to her human form in a flash. Whipping her wand out of her pocket, she cast an unlocking spell and slipped into the house.

Once inside, she paused slightly, before making her way to the staircase and heading up. However, she hesitated again once she reached outside Harry's door, unsure how to continue. But the gut wrenching sobs coming from the inside of the room fuelled her, and she softly tapped on the door.

The crying sounds immediately ceased, and Minerva bit her lip, hoping she hadn't scared him. After all, he was under the impression that he was completely alone in the house. "Harry, it's Professor McGonagall," she called out, and heard him draw in a sharp breath.

"Prove it," came the voice from inside, and Minerva couldn't help the small smile on her face. He clearly knew how to look out for himself at least.

"I gave you your first ever broomstick. I organised a Time Turner for Miss Granger which you both used. I offered to coach you nightly to become an Auror during your Careers Advice session," Minerva said, trying to think of occasions that few other people would be aware of. A quick memory suddenly flashed into her mind, and she smiled. "I also believe you overheard me when I was informing Peeves that the chandelier unscrewed the other way."

There was silence from the other side of the door, and then she heard a slight scuffling sound. Moments later, the door opened and she was face to face with Harry Potter. Although he was no longer crying, it was clearly evident that he had been, and her heart immediately went out to him. Without even thinking how he would react, she took half a step forward and drew him into a hug.

Harry was stiff at first; however after a few seconds he brought his arms up around her and buried his head into her shoulder. His shoulders started to shake and Minerva could feel dampness on her shoulder, and guessed he was crying.

Not letting go, she manoeuvred them into the room and to the bed, so they were sitting. He began to sob, and she brought one arm up to run her fingers through his hair, the other hand rubbing his back comfortingly. He clung to her as if for dear life, which only caused her to tighten her hold. Each sound he made was like a knife to her body, and she closed her eyes, wishing dearly that she could take away all the pain he was feeling. He was only fifteen years old; he shouldn't have had to go through so much pain already.

After what seemed like hours, his sobs softened until he finally pulled away. Minerva released him, although she kept one hand on his back, rubbing soft circles.

"Professor…I'm sorry…I didn't," he began, clearly embarrassed with his eyes glued to the floor. She brought her hand to his chin and tipped his head upwards, so his gaze was diverted to her.

"Harry, do not apologize. You have every right to feel upset, and you're grieving for the loss of a loved one. Don't be ashamed to show your feelings," she told him gently. He nodded, sniffing slightly, and she pulled her wand out and conjured a handkerchief from thin air. Wordlessly she handed it to him, and he mumbled his thanks as he wiped his eyes and blew his nose. Once he had cleaned himself up, she vanished it. Now that he was in control of his emotions, she worried that she might be invading his personal space, so she got to her feet and moved to his desk, leaning against it as she faced him. Now that she was actually in the room with him, she wasn't quite sure what to say

"Um, Professor, I don't want to sound rude or anything, but why are you here? Are you taking me somewhere else for the rest of the summer?" Harry asked after a moment's silence. There was a slight strain of hope in his voice, which she detected.

Minerva gave him a small, sad smile and shook her head. "As much as I would love to take you away from here, I can't. Professor Dumbledore told you about the blood wards, right? You still need to stay a little longer to renew them."

Harry nodded resignedly. "I figured…has something happened? Is Hermione and Ron okay?"

"Don't worry, everyone's fine," Minerva reassured him. "I'm here because…well, I wanted to see you, make sure you were okay. You've had a really hard year, and I've been so worried about you. I know you have to stay here for part of the summer to renew the blood wards, but I don't want you to think that you're alone here. I do care about you Harry, I always have."

"Yeah, well you've never shown it," he said, slightly bitterly. Minerva sighed softly to herself.

"I know. Ever since you came to Hogwarts, you have been known as the Boy-Who-Lived, and you've gotten so much unwanted attention. I didn't want to add to that, and make you resent me. I have tried looking out for you at school, and doing what I could for you. I understand I may have been wrong going about it, so I do apologize." Minerva glanced up at his face and held his gaze for a moment.

In that moment, Harry could see that she was being completely honest. He thought back to his time over the past years at Hogwarts – buying him a broomstick in his first year, her protectiveness of him during the Triwizard Tournament, her standing up to Umbridge on his behalf at his Careers Advice meeting. "Don't apologize," he said finally, the bitterness leaving him completely. "You have looked out for me, and that I appreciate. But why now? Why are you telling me this?"

"I had a serious talk with Hermione Granger recently, and your name actually came up. She seemed to feel it would be more beneficial for both of us if I were to be honest with you, and I'll admit I'd rather you know how much I care about you than have you think you're alone. I promise you Harry, that I'm always looking out for you, and I'll do my best to help you with whatever you have to do."

After she finished speaking, Minerva kept her eyes trained on the quill in her hands. However, she was surprised when she felt a hand on her arm. Harry had gotten up and moved over to her, and then gave her a hug. Carefully, she brought her arms around him and returned the hug, glad that he didn't resent her.

"Thanks. To know that you do care, well, it means a lot," he said as he pulled away. She smiled at him, and gave his shoulder a soft squeeze before releasing him. Motioning over to the bed, she took a seat, and waited whilst he sat as well.

"I remember Sirius's sorting. He had a few cousins already at Hogwarts, all in Slytherin, and I assumed he would go there. However, when the sorting had chose him for Gryffindor, he tossed the hat in the air and let out a great cheer," Minerva told Harry, smiling fondly at the memory. "Quite a character, your godfather was. He and your father were such a pair, always getting into mischief."

Minerva continued to talk about Sirius and James's adventures at Hogwarts, and Harry listened with rapt attention. She told him many different stories, and only stopped when his stomach let out a loud grumble.

"Merlin, it's already lunchtime!" she said, shocked, as she glanced at the wall clock in Harry's room. "I'm going to have to go now, but…would you mind if I come to visit a few more times this summer? Until you go to the Weasley's?" she asked him.

Harry gave her a warm smile and nodded. "That would be great. Thanks, Professor." She reached over and gave him a comforting hug, then apparated home.

* * *

_**TBC**_

_A/N – Okay, I'm not overall thrilled with this chapter, but I want to get it posted now, as I'm leaving tomorrow on a two week cruise and wont have internet access. I will be writing while I'm away, however, and will post the next chapter as soon as I can when I get back. Thanks for all the reviews I have received, it makes me smile!_

_And also, no this isnt going to start focusing around Harry at all, I do want to keep it just a Minerva/Hermione story, but thought I'd bring a few extra characters in to mix it up_

_Bella x_


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N:__ So I'm back from my holidays, I had such a fantastic time. I went on a two week cruise around the south pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu), I didn't want to come home. If anyone's considering a holiday, I highly recommend going on a cruise!! Anyway sorry for the loooong wait, I've been back home for nearly two weeks but I've just started uni and had to get myself organised for that. So, on with the story!_

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

Minerva apparated into the front hall, pleased with how the morning had gone with Harry. "Hermione, I'm home!" she called out. There was no response, only the soft ticking of a wall clock. Minerva made her way upstairs and knocked on Hermione's door, however there was no answer, and Minerva pushed the door open to find the room empty. She made her way back downstairs to the kitchen, and her eyes cast upon a note on the counter. It was from Hermione, saying she was down at the lake.

Minerva began to make her way towards the back door, however paused as she felt her back starting to ache. "Bloody Umbridge," she muttered to herself as she considered getting her walking stick. Shaking her head, she instead simply apparated down to the lake.

She appeared next to a blanket and several books, and she could see Hermione in the water. Hermione had heard the pop of someone apparating, and when she saw Minerva appear she smiled and got out of the water.

"How's the water, nice?" Minerva asked as she conjured a towel and handed it to Hermione.

"Thanks. It's really cold, but I was that hot sitting here I figured a dip would be nice," Hermione replied, wrapping the towel around herself. "How's Harry?"

Minerva smiled, and took a seat on the blanket. "He's doing okay I suppose, considering he's just lost his godfather. We ended up having a talk, and I took your advice about being honest with him. I'm going to visit him again soon, would you like to come?"

"Of course!" Hermione replied, lighting up with a smile. She took a seat next to Minerva on the blanket, enjoying the feel of the sun warming her now cool face.

"I'm actually thinking of having a chat with Albus, I'll see if Harry can come over. He's cooped up in that house; it'd do him good to get away for a day. Ron can come too…you haven't told your friends you're staying here, have you?" Minerva asked inquiringly.

"No, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to or not…" Hermione replied slowly. "I sort of got the idea that it wasn't something to go around telling people."

"At school, definitely, we couldn't have risked Umbridge finding out," Minerva said. "Well, now that she's gone and Albus is back, you can tell Harry and Ron, and Ginny, about our training, and you staying here, if you want. I don't want you lying to your friends. Although it probably wouldn't be the best idea to have many other students know you're living with me, it could bring up favouritism issues and make your time at Hogwarts harder."

"Okay, good. I don't like hiding anything from the boys anyway," Hermione said. "But what do I say to Harry? I don't want him to resent me for being here, when he's stuck at the Dursleys."

Minerva smiled, and reached over to brush a stray curl behind the girl's ear. "You're such a good friend, always looking out for their feelings before yours. Harry knows all about the blood wards and why he has to stay there for a few weeks to renew them. Your parents were physically hurting you; you couldn't stay there any longer. I have a feeling he will understand."

"Okay," Hermione replied, somewhat relieved. She paused, and glanced to Minerva next to her. "Did you mind that I told Madam Hooch?"

"Rolanda? Not at all," Minerva assured her. "She was here last night actually, but left when I came up to you after your nightmare. She'll probably pop by every now and then these holidays. She can be very outgoing and mischievous, but you get used to her after a while. Poppy will also come by sometime, I'm pretty sure she wants to check for herself to make sure I'm not exerting myself," Minerva said, with a slightly exasperated tone at the end.

Hermione chuckled, and shook her head. "She's just looking out for you. Besides, you've hardly used your walking stick since you've come home. Can you honestly tell me you don't need it?"

Minerva stared at Hermione seriously. "I can honestly say that I…can't lie to you. Well, I'll be fine, I have the whole summer to relax and get my health in order. And I've got you to be on my back to make sure I rest and don't exert myself so Poppy doesn't have anything to worry about. Now, I'm hungry, I'm going to go have lunch, are you coming?"

"Sure," Hermione replied as they both got up. Minerva sent the blanket and books flying back to the house whilst Hermione tied her towel like a dress. They began to walk towards the house, however Hermione noticed almost immediately that Minerva was going slightly slower and was taking even breaths. "You're wishing you had your walking stick now, don't you?" Hermione asked knowingly with a grin. Minerva mock glared at her, yet considered summoning her walking stick out. "Here," Hermione said, offering her arm.

Minerva bit back her pride and accepted the proffered arm, using Hermione's support to get back inside. "Thanks…but you better not breathe a word to Poppy, or Rolanda, or even Albus." Hermione nodded with a light chuckle, yet relieved that Minerva was accepting her help. Sometimes, that witch could be too full of pride for her own good.

Together, they made their way back to the house. Once they entered the kitchen, Minerva released Hermione's arm after giving the girl a gentle squeeze of thanks. "Now, how about I'll make us some lunch, while you go and get changed out of those wet swimmers," Minerva said. "The last thing I want is for you to get sick on me, especially considering Poppy told me you're nearly as bad a patient as I am. And that's saying something."

Hermione grinned, and nodded her agreement. She hurried upstairs where she made her way into the bathroom and had a quick shower to rinse off the lake water. She spelled herself dry, got changed, and began to make her way downstairs. However, she paused, considering something to herself, and turned back. Cautiously, she stepped into Minerva's room and glanced around at the room, until her eyes rested upon Minerva's walking stick. She quickly grabbed it and made her way downstairs.

"By the way, thanks for breakfast this morning," she said as she entered the kitchen, where Minerva was levitating two glasses of iced tea, a platter of fruit and some sandwiches to the table. Hermione surreptitiously leaned the walking stick against the counter, then took a seat at the kitchen table as if nothing had happened. Minerva noticed however, and smiled to herself, thankful that Hermione was such a thoughtful, considerate girl despite her parents.

They began eating, making small talk, when Minerva felt something rub up against her leg. Glancing down, she saw Crookshanks brushing around her ankles, her squashed face gazing up at her imploringly.

"It looks like someone's hungry," Minerva said as she rose from her seat and scooped Crookshanks up into her arms.

"Wow, he sure does like you!" Hermione replied in a surprised voice, watching Minerva rub the cat's belly. The older witch then took a small saucer out of a cupboard, filled it with milk and put Crookshanks on the floor with it. "He never warms up to people this quick, and there are very few people he does like."

"Well, to be honest, Crookshanks and I have been 'friends', so to speak, for years," Minerva admitted. "I frequently do my patrols around the castle in my Animagus form; it's much easier to sneak up on misbehaving students. Crookshanks would often come with me, or relax with me by the fire on cold nights in the common room when the students are in bed."

This information was completely new to Hermione, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Minerva chuckled at the girl's shock. "Oh Hermione, you're going to have fun when you master your transformation. By becoming a cat Animagus, you'll get the ability to communicate with other cats."

Minerva suddenly transformed into her feline form. She leapt lightly onto Hermione's lap, and rubbed her head up against the girl's arm. Hermione responded by bringing her hand down to scratch behind Minerva's ears. She stroked the soft, sleek fur, giggling when Minerva began to purr. Minerva indulged in this massage for a minute or so, then leapt to the ground as Crookshanks finished his milk. She ambled over and pawed at him lightly, and he swished his tail at her in response. Hermione watched, wide eyed, as the two cats paused and stared intently at each other, as if reading each other's minds. Moments later Minerva transformed back to her human form and winced, bringing a hand up to her chest.

"What's wrong, what happened? Are you okay?" Hermione asked in a panic, as she leapt to her feet. Minerva smiled reassuringly, and gave the concerned girl a brief, one armed hug.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of pain transforming back. I suppose I now know why Poppy forbade me to transform this summer," she said, having the grace to look guilty when Hermione raised an eyebrow at her. "Before you lecture me, if I promise not to transform again, can this be our little secret?"

Hermione relented, shaking her head with a small smile at her teacher as she bent down and scooped up Crookshanks. The fluffy ginger cat had grown bored with the two women ignoring him and had taken to bumping his body against his owner's smooth calves.

Minerva reached over and gave him a quick rub. "In case you were wondering, he told me that he in enjoying living here, although he does miss Hogwarts," she said, as the cat yawned in the girl's arms.

"Impressive. He did hate going to my parents house in the summer, I don't think he liked being cooped up in the house. And I'm pretty sure he didn't like going to the Weasley's much either," Hermione replied.

"He loathes Ron. Still hasn't forgiven him from your third year when Ron falsely accused him of eating Scabbers, and ostracizing you. He's very loyal to you." Minerva smirked lightly at her pupil's raised eyebrows. "I told you, we talk a lot. Now, did you have plans for the rest of the afternoon, or would you be interested in continuing your training at all?"

"Ooh, training please!" Hermione replied eagerly. After the previous demonstration, Hermione's desire to complete her transformation had suddenly doubled.

Minerva picked the walking stick up from the counter, and mock glared at Hermione. "Not a word out of you," she warned, although a slight twinkle in her eyes somewhat similar to that of Albus Dumbledore showed she was not being serious.

The two women made their way into the living room, where Hermione took position in the middle of the room, facing Minerva who sunk down into a soft armchair. From this position, Minerva fully observed Hermione's every move and gave instruction and encouragement as needed. This final stage of the transformation required an intense amount of concentration and magic, and it was beyond clear that Hermione was focusing completely on the task. After five years of teaching the girl, Minerva knew exactly how much Hermione relied and flourished on Minerva's opinion, so she therefore made sure to speak her mind.

"Honestly Hermione, you are performing outstandingly," she said as they stopped after a couple of hours for a cup of tea and some Ginger Newts. "If we do a couple hours a day, I believe you will master the final transformation before the end of the week."

There was a strain of pride in her professor's voice, and Hermione beamed at the praise. "Great, I can't wait." She paused, considering her thoughts, and Minerva remained silent, sensing the girl still had more to say. She was correct in her assumption, and the younger witch continued on in a slightly quieter voice.

"Although, I suppose I will miss our talks after training in your rooms when we return back to school. It was nice to talk to you, particularly since my two best friends are boys."

Minerva nodded over her cup, nodding slightly. "I can't imagine Ron being interested in discussing anything more complex than the statistical chances of Gryffindor winning the Quidditch cup," she replied. "However, I'll admit that I'd miss your visits also. You're always welcome to visit me at school though; you don't need to use your training as an excuse. My door will always be open to you, and I want you to feel comfortable in my rooms."

"I do. And I might take you up on that and come visit. At least I won't have to worry about running into Umbridge…right? She's definitely gone?"

"God yes, there's not a chance Albus will let her even near the school grounds, let alone teach again. Not that she did much teaching anyway. So it looks like yet again Hogwarts is in need of another Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Minerva sighed. "It won't be easy to find a new one, although I haven't spoken to Albus yet so I'm not sure if he has any ideas."

A soft tapping at the window interrupted their conversation, and the two women turned to see a minute owl bouncing excitedly on the windowsill. Its feathers were ruffled up and there was a scroll of parchment attached to its leg, giving it an oddly unbalanced appearance.

"It's Pig, that's Ron's owl," Hermione explained as she jumped up and hurried over to the window. She opened it up, allowing the tiny bird to tumble into the room, hooting happily. Crookshanks, who had been napping in a patch of sun, lazily opened his eyes to watch Pig for several long moments, before yawning and stretching back out to sleep again. Hermione gently grabbed the owl and untied t of its burden, who continued to hoot and flutter around the room when Hermione released him. Moving to sit next to Minerva again, she unrolled the parchment and read the letter aloud.

_Dear Hermione_

_Hope you're having a good holiday so far. You've probably already finished your holiday homework, I'd bet. We're back home at the Burrow, I don't think we're going to Headquarters anymore –_

"Just in case, since Sirius died Albus is a bit unsure if the house does belong to Harry, like in the will, or not," Minerva broke in to explain. Hermione nodded and turned back to the letter.

_I think Harry will be coming in a couple of weeks to stay for the rest of the summer, are you coming to stay again too? I'm pretty sure Ginny is keen to have a girl around, and the house is a lot more empty since Fred and George started living in the flat above their shop. I haven't been there yet, but apparently business is booming._

_Anyway enjoy your summer, see you soon_

_Ron_

"So, is he right?" Minerva said with a light tease to her voice. "Have you finished your summer homework not even a week into the holidays?"

Hermione smirked. "Well _actually_, for your information I haven't. this is turning out to be quite a relaxing summer for once, not to mention I have your entire personal library at my fingertips for research, so I can take my time."

Minerva was slightly surprised, yet pleased. "That's good to hear. You always work so hard at school, particularly your third year, I sometimes worried you were overdoing it. I'm glad to hear you're relaxing a bit, you definitely deserve it."

"I don't overdo it, I just want to do well at school," Hermione replied. "Anyway, about Ron's invitation to stay the rest of the summer, well…um…"

Minerva had an idea what the girl really wanted to ask, and laid a gentle hand on her arm. "You know, if you want to go and stay with your friends, that's more than okay, I won't mind. You could floo over and visit whenever you want," Minerva told her. "But you can also stay here, and floo to Ron's house to see your friends for as long as you want. You'll always have your own room here, and you're welcome here as long or as little as you want."

Hermione smiled at her mentor, gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thanks, it's really good to know that. I like that idea, but I think it would work better if I were to tell Harry and Ron that I'm living here first. I don't like keeping things from them."

"That's a really good idea," Minerva agreed. "Do you know what you'd tell them? They don't know about your parents, right?"

"No, definitely not. To be honest, you're the only one that knows. Well, I briefly spoke about it to Madam Hooch when you were hit with the stunners," Hermione said. Minerva picked up Hermione's hand and gave it a soft, supportive squeeze.

"And your secret is safe with me. If you want, tell Ron that you'll let him know about staying a bit closer to the time, and come with me in a few days to see Harry. That gives you a couple of days to get ready, and you can tell it all to Harry then if you like, tell him as little or as much as you feel comfortable."

"Do you, um, think Harry would be upset with me? Because I'm living here with you whilst he has to stay at the Dursleys?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

Considering that Hermione had already mentioned something somewhat similar earlier that afternoon, when they were having lunch by the lake, Minerva could tell that it was really bothering the girl. She thought carefully, wanting to be completely honest as well as reassuring the girl.

"No. Harry's not like that, and you're such an important friend to him. If he understood your personal situation with your parents, he would completely understand, however again, I don't want you to feel like you have to say anything you're not comfortable with discussing." Hermione nodded at this, and Minerva continued with another thought. "Also, since you're no longer living with your parents, I will have to tell Professor Dumbledore. The Ministry has magic set up at on underage witches and wizards, for instances such as a loss of guardians. They most likely already know, and Albus will be able to get everything sorted out quickly and privately. Is that okay?"

Hermione nodded slowly; her mind whirling with the technicalities of what Minerva had just said. "So, since I'm underage, does that mean I have to get a new guardian?" she asked slowly. "Even though I turn seventeen in a few months?"

"I think so, often they place underage witches and wizards under guardianship of foster parents, unless they find a permanent guardian." Minerva watched the girl carefully, and noted the almost imperceptible flash of hope across the girl's face. Hoping she was interpreting correctly, she continued. "So, I was thinking that maybe I could be your guardian. I mean, only if you want me to; I'd understand if you'd prefer Molly Weasley or-"

Minerva was immediately cut off by Hermione, who had thrown her arms around the older witch's neck. It was fortunate that Minerva had already finished her tea and put the cup down, as she was caught slightly off guard with the suddenness of the hug. Recovering quickly, she embraced her student just as tightly, blinking her eyes furiously to keep the emotional tears that had welled in her eyes at bay.

Hermione had already lost that battle. She was so overcome with emotion over the fact that Minerva was basically offering up a new life for her, that she found herself speechless and could only hug Minerva to express her gratitude. After several long moments, Hermione finally withdrew, hastily wiping her eyes.

"So, I'll take that as a yes, then?" Minerva asked with a smile, which grew as Hermione chuckled lightly.

"Yes. Thank you," the girl replied softly, hoping her mentor could see the sincerity in her eyes.

"Anytime," Minerva replied. She reached out and tucked a stray curl behind Hermione's ear, then dropped a light kiss on her forehead and rose to her feet. "I don't want Poppy after my blood because I worked you too hard with your training, so no more for today. Go have some fun."

Hermione was so happy she didn't even feel disappointed that she couldn't do any more training for the afternoon. She stood, scooping up Pig who hooted excitedly. "Okay, I need to write back to Ron anyway," she replied. She left the room to find some parchment and a quill, and Minerva watched her leave, smiling softly to herself.

* * *

_**TBC**_

_I think this is my longest chapter yet. I wasn't planning on the chapter ending the way it did, but that's what came out so I just went with the flow. Hope you're all enjoying it! Probably only one or two more chapters to go, it feels almost finished, so I better get thinking of a plotline for a new story to keep me occupied!_


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N:__ First of all, let me offer my biggest apologies for the ridiculously long wait in updates!! I started university in March which was way more full on then I realised, plus I work two jobs, so I barely had time to breathe, let alone write. I did have the chapter almost done in my mid semester break, only to have my laptop blow up. I have a brand spanking new laptop now, and have finally finished re-writing the chapter, since I wasn't smart enough to back it up (I know now!). So here's the newest update, and the next one will hopefully be up within the next two weeks. Enjoy!_

Chapter Twenty

The next couple of days seemed to fly by for the two witches. Their friendship had become closer than ever, and Hermione finally felt completely comfortable in Minerva's – home. She couldn't quite bring herself to call it home yet, as there was a tiny doubt in the back of her mind worrying that everything could be taken away from her, however she tried her best to ignore it and instead focus on her Animagus training. It was progressing immensely well, and she could almost feel the sweet sense of victory. Minerva was incredibly proud of her young student, as was Albus when he came to visit the day after Minerva and Hermione's talk.

_Two Days Earlier_

"Don't forget to take a deep breath before thinking the incantation," Minerva reminded Hermione, who nodded; her face tight with effort.

The final step to completing her Animagus training involved casting the incantation wandlessly and wordlessly, and once she mastered that she could then complete the transformation at will with ease. She could now understand why Minerva had said that the final stage of the transformation was the hardest, and it was here where most people gave up. However, Hermione was determined, and focused her whole mind to the task.

Drawing in a slow breath, Hermione screwed her face up in concentration and tried to visualise her magic surging up and pushing forth her form. However, as she could feel herself changing, her energy drained and she lost hold of the transformation with a gasp.

"Nearly did it, you came quite close that time!" Minerva cried encouragingly. "You managed the features and a bit of fur, you're doing so well!"

"Yes, exceptionally well," came a new voice, and Hermione almost shrieked in surprise. She turned to the doorway to see Albus Dumbledore watching them with a smile of his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Hello Miss Granger, Minerva," he greeted, as Minerva rose from her seat. She crossed the room and gave him a hug and peck on the check, before turning to Hermione. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you that Albus would be popping in," she said, smiling apologetically. "He often visit in the holidays; I've spelled the wards to recognise him so he just apparates into the house."

"Oh, right," Hermione replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, I'll just go up to my room, so you can talk and-"

"Hermione, he's not a professor right now, just a friend," Minerva broke in. "You don't have to leave the room, it's your house too, and he visits frequently so I want you to feel comfortable here. Is that okay?"

"Of course its okay, I didn't want to intrude or anything," the girl replied slightly hesitantly.

"It's alright Miss Granger, I don't bite," Albus grinned. "Besides, I hoped to be granted the delightful opportunity of watching one of your Animagus training sessions, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Hermione replied, blushing slightly. She glanced at Minerva, who nodded encouragingly. Drawing in a slow breath, Hermione began to focus on her transformation whilst Minerva and Albus made their way over to the couch the elder witch had just vacated.

Hermione then trained under the guidance of the two Hogwarts professors. Albus was able to provide her with several additional tips, although he was deeply impressed with both the girls' skill and how well Minerva had been managing the training sessions.

Half an hour of intense training passed before Minerva called an end to it. Hermione began to protest, however Minerva held up a hand to stop her. "I received an owl from Poppy this morning; she said she'd be popping by tomorrow to check up on both of us. Please don't give her reason to reprimand me; you know she will if she thinks you've been working too hard."

Hermione nodded with a slight sigh of disappointment, although she smiled to show Minerva she understood and didn't mind too much.

"Now, does anyone feel like some tea?" Minerva continued as she moved to get up.

"Stay there, I'll get it," Hermione replied, and made her way to the kitchen.

Minerva settled back down and turned to face Albus. "She seems to be settling in quite well," he commented airily.

Minerva nodded and gave his arm a friendly squeeze. "It wasn't the easiest start; and she's still having nightmares, but I think she'll be fine."

"More than fine, now that she has you," Albus told her warmly. "And now you have a family, so to speak. I've never seen you happier. She's as good for you as you are her."

Meanwhile, Hermione was in the kitchen, carefully preparing tea. She wasn't sure how the Headmaster had his, so she simply left it black and put milk and sugar on the side. She put it all on a tray and began to leave, however paused at the door and grabbed a small tin of Ginger Newts as an afterthought. She then carried the tray out to Albus and Minerva, who were deep in conversation. She tried not to listen, but started slightly when her name was spoken. Minerva noticed this, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, we're just discussing your guardianship," Minerva told her. Hermione grinned at this, and the elder witch couldn't help but feel a warm glow inside when she saw it.

Minerva had never had a very close relationship with her own parents, and moved out as soon as she became of age. Her earlier years were devoted to being an Auror and the downfall of Grindelwald, and soon after she made the move to teaching at Hogwarts. Neither career was entirely accommodating in terms of relationships, and despite having several romances, she spend most of her life alone. She had always wanted children, yet as she got older she gradually let that dream slip and instead focused on her friendships with Albus, Rolanda, Poppy and other friends. Nevertheless, there was a tiny niggling thought in the back of her mind that would remind her how alone she was, although she tried to keep it locked away.

And here she was, about to get a 'family' of sorts, in a few days. Of course, Minerva was still Hermione's professor, yet she hadn't cared for anyone more than she did for the young witch, and was beginning to love and care for her as if she were her daughter.

"…Minerva?"

A voice broke through her musings, and Minerva shook her head slightly to bring her back to reality. Albus appeared slightly amused, whereas Hermione was eyeing her with a touch of concern. "Yes, sorry, I'm fine. I was just lost in my thoughts. What were you saying?" she asked.

"I was just informing Miss Granger that I will be accompanying you both to the Ministry in three days to complete the papers for the guardianship," Albus explained airily.

"We might even be able to kill two birds with one stone, and have you sign the Animagus register, if you're ready in time," Minerva added, much to Hermione's delight.

"Great, I can't wait," Hermione replied. "How long does that usually take?"

Minerva began to answer her questions, as Albus leaned back into the chair contentedly. He had never seen his deputy happier or smiling so much. Hermione was doing her the world of good, just by being there.

A tapping was heard at the window, and the three paused to see a tawny owl at the windowsill. Minerva flicked her want, making the glass pane vanish, and the own flew straight to Albus. He untied the letter, and fed the owl a bit of Ginger Newt before it flew back out the window and Minerva replaced the glass.

"Ah, it seems I'm being summoned by the ministry," Albus said. Minerva sighed at the news.

"Merlin, can't Fudge learn to do his job without relying on your help for one day?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Well, according to this letter, he is no longer the Minister for Magic. It seems he has been replaced by Rufeus Scrimegeour," Albus replied, furrowing his brow as he scanned the end of the letter. He folded it up and tucked it into his robes, before rising to his feet. "I must go to the Ministry at once. Thank you, Minerva, for your kind hospitality, as always. Thank you for the tea, Miss Granger. I look forward to seeing you both in a few days."

The two witches bid him farewell, and he Disapparated with a loud crack.

Minerva turned to clear the empty cups, and Hermione hesitated slightly. "Minerva…uh, what were you thinking about before? When you were distracted from the conversation?"

Minerva faced Hermione, and the younger girl blushed. "I'm sorry, never mind, it's not any of my business." Minerva smiled, and reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Hermione's ear.

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you here."

_Present Day_

Not only was Hermione's training going well, but her health was too, along with Minerva's. Poppy had visited the previous day, and after examining each witch she pronounced Hermione to be in good health. Minerva on the other hand, she was more worried about, as the marks on Minerva's chest where the stunners had entered her chest were still quite red and inflamed. Minerva also admitted to the marks aching at night, and her lotion didn't work on them.

Poppy wanted to send Minerva to St Mungo's for a check up, however the Transfigurations professor refused flat out. Poppy ended up settling for Hermione promising to make sure that Minerva would rest more.

Hermione took this promise to heart, and that morning she cooked up a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast, and squeezed some oranges for fresh juice. She piled the food onto two trays, and levitated it behind her as she made her way upstairs and tapped gently on Minerva's bedroom door. A voice called out to enter, so she pushed the door open and entered with the food.

Minerva was sitting up in bed reading, however as she saw Hermione coming in she placed the book down on the nightstand. "Good morning Hermione," she greeted warmly. "What's all this?"

"Nothing much, I just thought you might like to have breakfast in bed today," Hermione replied as she floated one tray over to Minerva. She sat down on the bed, crossing her legs underneath her and took the other tray out of the air.

"That's so thoughtful of you, thank you. Although I don't suppose you're doing this to keep me resting more and to keep Poppy happy, are you?" Hermione blushed, and Minerva shook her head, a small smile upon her face. "I thought so. Don't worry, I do promise I will try to rest more, and at least take my walking stick with me whenever we leave the house."

"Good, that's all I ask," Hermione replied. "How's your breakfast, do you need anything?"

"No, it's perfect. Thank you for this, the last time I got breakfast in bed was from Ro and Poppy on my birthday a few years ago, since my birthday fell on a Sunday," Minerva replied. The two witches continued to eat their meals, until they were both satiated. Hermione banished the trays and plated back to the kitchen, whilst Minerva moved to get out of bed.

"What have you got planned for today?" Hermione asked.

Minerva stretched out her muscles, appearing very graceful and cat-like. "Well, I was hoping that you might like to come and visit Harry with me today," Minerva replied, trying to hide her grin. She had a feeling she knew what the girl's answer would be, and she wasn't disappointed.

"Definitely! I wonder how he's going, I hope those Muggles are treating him okay. When can we go?" Hermione asked excitedly. Today was definitely shaping up to be a great day.

"That's up to you. I thought you'd like to train today as well, you might even complete your transformation. So you can do that in the morning and see Harry in the afternoon, or the other way around. I don't mind either way," Minerva told her.

Hermione thought for a moment before responding. "Well…can we visit Harry this morning, and train this afternoon? I don't want to be distracted by other thoughts when I'm training. Is that okay?"

"That sounds perfect. How about you go and get ready, whilst I have a shower, and we'll go in about half an hour or so?" Minerva asked.

Hermione nodded, and exited the room so Minerva could get ready in peace.

Half an hour later, Hermione was all ready to go and waiting somewhat impatiently for Minerva. The elder witch finally made her way downstairs, dressed quite nicely in a pair of three quarter pants and a fitted top that showed off her tanned, muscular arms quite well.

"Ready to leave?" Minerva asked. "We'll go by Apparition." She reached out and wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders. Hermione felt the pull at her navel, and before she knew it they were standing in a tidy backyard. "We'll go around the front, I just didn't want any Muggles to see us," Minerva explained. Hermione nodded, and they made their way around to the front door. Minerva stepped forward and knocked smartly on the front door.

There was a moment or two of silence, before the door slowly swung open. Harry stood in the doorway, looking slightly apprehensive until he realised who it was.

"Harry!" Hermione cried, stepping forward and throwing her arms around him into a hug. "How are you? Are the Muggles treating you okay?"

"Hi Hermione," Harry replied, patting his friend somewhat awkwardly on the back until she released him. "Hi Professor," he added, glancing up at Minerva over Hermione's shoulder.

"Hello Harry. Are your aunt and uncle home?" Minerva asked, as Hermione pulled away.

"No, fortunately," Harry replied. "They've taken Dudley and a few of his mates out for the day, I'm not sure where but they'll be gone for hours still." Harry led them into the living room, where he and Hermione sat down on the sofa. Minerva took a seat on the armchair closest to them.

"Er, can I get you anything to drink at all?" Harry asked after a moment's silence.

"I'm fine, thanks," Minerva replied with a warm smile, and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"How has it been so far this summer? What have the Muggles been like?" Hermione asked. As Harry began to answer, she took a slow breath to calm herself. She planned to tell Harry about her living arrangements, and was slightly nervous as to how he'd take it.

"Not too bad, compared to other years," Harry replied, much to the two witches' relief. "They're basically ignoring me. I stay in my room most of the summer, and do my homework. Or I get out of the house and walk around the neighbourhood."

Minerva glanced sideways at Hermione, before rising to her feet. "Sorry Harry, would you mind directing me to the bathroom?" she asked, and the wizard told her where to go. As she began to walk down the hallway, she heard Harry ask Hermione how her summer was going.

"Well, actually," she heard Hermione reply, before she was out of earshot. Instead of going to the bathroom, Minerva paused in the hallway and studied the framed family pictures that dotted the walls. They were all shots of either Vernon and Petunia together, or of Dudley. Wrinkling her nose distastefully in a very cat like manner, Minerva noted that the boy still looked as large as he did when he was a toddler.

Minerva hung around in the hallway for a few moments longer, before going to the bathroom. When she finished, she washed her hands and slowly made her way back to the living room.

She was greeted with the sight of Harry and Hermione both sitting on the couch still, hugging each other. Hermione appeared very happy – and somewhat relieved. They drew apart as Minerva made her way over and sat back in the chair she had previously vacated.

"I just told Harry everything. He's okay with it all," Hermione told her professor with a smile.

"Why wouldn't I be? There's no way I would want you there with your parents if they hurt you at all," Harry replied. "I don't like my relatives, but at least they have never physically harmed me."

"She thought you might resent her because you still have to live with your relatives while she is staying with me," Minerva said, to a short frown from Hermione. Minerva simply shook her head at the younger witch, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Resent you? Hermione, that's stupid. I thought you were meant to be the smart one. As if I could resent you for getting away from your abusive parents," Harry scoffed. At this, Hermione threw her arms around him again, a couple of loose tears escaping her eyes. Harry patted her awkwardly on the back as he glanced at Minerva somewhat meekly. After several moments, Hermione pulled away, blushing slightly.

"So, uh, Hermione, have you gotten a letter from Ron yet this summer?" Harry asked, after a moment of silence. "Are you staying at the Burrow again at all this summer?"

Hermione glanced briefly at Minerva before replying. "I was actually thinking of staying with Minerva, and I'll floo over every day to see you guys. Its gets a bit crowded there, you know?" she asked.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. And half the time when we're playing quidditch, you just read anyway," Harry replied.

"Oh Harry, you should see Minerva's library! She has an actual library at her house! And there are quite a few good defence books that you might actually enjoy. They would have been great for the DA last year," Hermione said excitedly.

"Yes, well despite the amazing job you did with it, hopefully you won't need the DA this year, since Umbridge will be gone," Minerva replied darkly.

"Professor, do you know who will be the new Defence teacher?" Harry asked curiously.

Minerva shook her head. "Professor Dumbledore has ideas, I'm sure, but as of yet he has hired no one, or conducted any interviews." She paused, musing to herself. "I can say, however, that it won't be someone Ministry appointed this time, that's for sure."

Harry grinned. "That's a shame," he deadpanned. "Although, it will mean that the students will just have to find _another_ teacher to test some of Fred and George's newest products on." He gave Minerva a sly look.

"I'm sure Professor Snape will be more than willing to step forward," Minerva shot back. She could only maintain her serious face for a few moments, before breaking into a chuckle. "I must really remember to send the twins something to say thank you. After all, those snack boxes were really something."

"Particularly since no one dared use them in your class," Hermione replied with a wink.

Several hours passed before their conversation started to dwindle. Harry was actually surprised he had had such a good time chatting to his teacher, of all people. He was starting to understand better how Minerva and Hermione could have such a close friendship; they were quite similar in many ways.

"I suppose we'd best be off," Minerva said when the chat lulled, and she rose to her feet. "Any chance we could leave through the back door? I need to apparate from the yard, so nobody sees."

"Sure," Harry replied, and he got up from where he was sprawled comfortably on the couch. He led the two witches to the back door, and paused. After a slight hesitation, he glanced up into the emerald eyes of his professor. "Thanks for coming to see me again, and bringing Hermione again. It's nice having some contact when I'm here."

Minerva smiled at him, and gave him a quick hug. "My pleasure, Harry. I'll try for another visit, although I don't know how much longer you'll be here. It may not be as long as you think."

"You know something, don't you?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Professor Dumbledore came yesterday, did he say something?" Hermione added, her interest peaked.

"I don't know anything concrete, so I'm keeping my mouth shut," Minerva said lightly with her hands in the air to defend the verbal accusations. "Take care Harry, we'll see you soon."

Minerva stepped outside, and waited for a moment so Hermione could say goodbye to her friend. When the younger witch stepped outside a minute later, Minerva gripped her arm gently and they Disapparated with a loud crack.

They reappeared in the kitchen at home, and Hermione quickly moved to the table to sit for a moment. "I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of apparition," she said, drawing in a slow breath.

"It did take some getting used to," Minerva responded. "I was thinking we could make lunch and eat, then move onto training, but if you're not feeling well enough..."

Hermione mock glared at her mentor, before grinning. "I'm fine. The feeling will go in a moment; I just needed to get my bearings back. Not a chance I'm going to miss training, so what are we making for lunch?"

_So not quite the end yet, although it's nearing. More to come soon!_


	21. Chapter 21

**_A/N:__ So I am guessing everyone has assumed I abandoned this! More like I allowed life to get in the way, lost time for fan fiction, forgot about this story, and only recently stumbled back. I am super sorry for anyone who was eagerly awaiting the next chapter that never seemed to come. I do plan on finishing this though, I put too much effort into it and want to see it through to the end. So here we go!_**

Chapter Twenty One

Once the two witches were both fed and watered, they moved into the lounge room to train. Hermione could feel butterflies in her stomach, from nerves of knowing she could potentially be a fully trained Animagus within a couple hours. As the Headmaster and Minerva would be taking her to the Ministry tomorrow to complete the guardianship papers, she wanted to sign the Animagus registry at the same time.

"Don't forget to breathe," Minerva said, taking a seat opposite Hermione, who stood in the middle of the floor. She inhaled, and then slowly breathed out to demonstrate, and Hermione mimicked the action several times. Hermione then closed her eyes to fully concentrate on the transformation, and Minerva used this moment to critically study the girl's form.

"You're too tense. Loosen your muscles, but draw your stomach muscles in. Remember, you're drawing on your magic from deep inside. Tap into all your strength to push forth your form," Minerva instructed. She received no reply; however the younger girl corrected her posture and attempted to do as she was instructed.

Although it was clear that Hermione was trying her hardest, the final transformation just wouldn't push through. Minerva patiently coached; spending around half an hour guiding her, before realising another tactic might help.

Slowly rising to her feet, Minerva got out of her chair and made her way over to Hermione. The younger witch had her eyes closed, and was therefore startled when Minerva placed a soft hand on her arm.

"God, Minerva," Hermione breathed, her heart racing in her chest. The touch had caught her completely off guard. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry, I knew how hard you were concentrating, I should have spoken first," Minerva apologised. "But this isn't working too well, so I want to try something different. Do you mind?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, go ahead. Whatever I need to do to become an Animagus, I'll do."

Minerva removed her hand from Hermione's arm, however brought it down to rest gently on Hermione's abdomen. She pressed lightly, noting the taut muscles beneath her palm.

"Can you feel your abdominal muscles here? At the pit of your belly?" Minerva asked, feeling the muscles twitch slightly. Hermione nodded, and she continued. "Okay. I want you to picture that just here, where my hand is, is where your magic is stored. You need to use all of your inner strength to draw that magic right out."

Minerva's hand was warm on her stomach, and Hermione used this comforting sensation to steady herself. She closed her eyes again, hoping to rely only on her mind, and the touch on her stomach. Slowly drawing in a deep breath, she imagined the warmth of her abdomen to be her magical core, and attempted to draw from it. She pictured her magic to be a seed, slowly pushing its way up and growing stronger, until it was all through her.

Suddenly, without warning, Hermione disappeared, to be replaced by her cat Animagus form. The cat stood, somewhat startled, and looked up at Minerva with bright round eyes. Minerva grinned, and scooped the cat up. She scratched behind her ears, chuckling when Hermione started to purr, then set her back down.

"Okay Hermione, can you change back for me?" Minerva asked, stepping back a little to provide her student with enough room to transform back.

The kitten closed its eyes, as if in deep concentration, and suddenly morphed back into a shocked sixteen year old girl.

"Did I just do it?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. Her eyes were wide and unsure as she looked at Minerva, however there were slight flickers of excitement in their depths.

Minerva grinned. "Yes, you did it sweetheart. You have just completed your training – you are now an Animagus!" She moved forward and pulled Hermione into a big hug, more proud of her protégé than ever.

Hermione was speechless; it took her a moment to allow Minerva's words to sink in. She had achieved her goal! She could now transform at will into a feline – all the hard work and effort she had put into her training had finally paid off. All that training, finished – the thought made her feel a little overwhelmed. Unbeknown to Hermione, she had started to sway a little, and Minerva did not hesitate to step forward and gently pull her to the couch to sit.

"It's a big thing you've just accomplished. Take a moment, take a few breaths," the professor instructed gently as she studied the young woman's face. She could practically see the mind ticking over, processing the transformation.

"Why does it take so much effort to transform?" Hermione asked after a moment. "It only takes you a blink of an eye and you're suddenly a cat. How much practice does it take to become that smooth at transforming?"

Minerva smiled. "Why don't you transform again and see?"

Hermione knitted her brow slightly, but compiled. Within seconds, a furry brown kitten was perched daintily on the sofa. Minerva couldn't help but take note that the fluffy fur had a slight resemblance to Hermione's naturally bushy hair. She chuckled softly as the kitten ambled over to her and bumped her head against Minerva's hand, clearly indicating that she wanted to be petted. Minerva compiled and gave her a scratch behind the ear, knowing from personal experience how relaxing that was to a cat.

Hermione gracefully leapt down to the floor, and then popped back into her human form. "I understand now, that was much easier! It was almost like the cat is just a glamour or something, it hardly took any effort to change!"

"It's always effort to master the final transformation. Once you manage that, transforming just comes naturally, and you managed that brilliantly. Well done, Hermione!"

"Mrow?" came a third voice, and the two women glanced to the entry way of the lounge room to see Crookshanks meandering into the room. He sniffed the air, and eyed the two women warily.

"He can smell that the feline you were just in the room, I think it's confused him," Minerva explained with a smile. She called out to Crookshanks, who surprisingly compiled and padded across the room to her. Hermione bent down to pet him, and then changed to her cat form with a short pop.

'_Ah, so you did it_,' Crookshanks said to her, although to her surprise it was as if she heard his words in her mind. '_As long as this means you're not going to start hogging all the cat toys. But I might share with you that the window in the library allows for an excellent sun patch to relax in during the afternoons_.'

Hermione was delighted that she was able to communicate with her cat. '_Thanks, Crookshanks, you old softie_,' she replied to him, butting her head against his. She then popped back to her human form, and pulled him into her lap as she took a seat on the sofa. The ginger cat began to purr as she stroked his fur gently.

"See what I mean now, about communicating with him?" Minerva asked. Hermione grinned as she nodded in response.

"Alright, well I'd say this moment calls for a celebration! You have, after all, just achieved a monumental achievement in magic before you've even started your sixth year," Minerva said with a smile. She disappeared into the kitchen, and returned a moment later with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Now, I know you are several months underage, and I'm technically not your guardian for another day," she said as she poured wine into the glasses, "but I figure it's a special occasion, and there's no harm in only one glass. Besides, what Albus doesn't know can't hurt him, right?" She winked as she handed a glass to the younger witch. "Cheers, Hermione. Here's to a wonderful achievement, and a future magical career with many more successes!"

The two witches toasted, and Hermione took a slow sip of her wine. She had tried wine before, at one of the many parties her parents had thrown, despite that the muggle drinking age was eighteen. Ron would be proud of her for that!

Crookshanks, whom was still in her lap, reached a paw out to tap against the side of the wine glass. Hermione chuckled, and stroked him with her spare hand. "Sorry mister, alcohol isn't for cats. I don't think you would like this!"

"If that's what you think, then I'm assuming you didn't know that Sirius would occasionally leave out a bowl of milk for Crookshanks, and spike it with a little whiskey. I might have fallen for that once last summer, whilst I was in and out of Grimmauld Place with Order business all the time," the professor replied, a soft smile gracing her lips as she remembered her student. "Never an amount to harm a cat, mind you, but just a little to taste. Crookshanks does enjoy that, to be honest."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at this piece of new information, and grinned. "That sounds like something Sirius would do."

Minerva began sharing stories about Sirius from his school days, and Hermione listened with great attention. She was constantly torn at being appalled by some of the tricks the man had gotten up to with James, and being impressed with how clever and well thought out some ideas were.

The two women talked for a good hour, before noting the time. They moved to the kitchen to prepare dinner together, chatting and laughing, and retired to the library after their meal. Minerva wanted a quiet evening, considering they were going to be spending the next day at the Ministry, so she spent a few hours getting some correspondence written that she had been neglecting, whilst Hermione made good use of the variety of texts Minerva had to offer in her library.

The following morning, Hermione awoke in her bed just shy of five. She was well aware that it was far too early to get up, as they wouldn't be leaving for the Ministry for several more hours at the earliest, yet she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. Today was the day that she was going to not only register to be an Animagus, but also have Minerva register to become her new legal guardian. It was a lot for her mind, and nerves, to take.

Excitement, however, was the foremost emotion she was experiencing. Whilst not necessarily looking forward to being at the Ministry, she was looking forward to getting the registry signed, and the guardian papers taken care of. The latter, particularly, was something that meant a lot to her. Whilst the need to have a guardian at first seemed pointless, considering she would be of age in just a few months, she was still a student for another two years. She knew enough to know she couldn't support herself until graduation, and she would be eternally grateful to Minerva for being willing to do this.

Despite the early hour, Hermione got out of bed, showered, and dressed. She walked out into the hallway, paused, and then changed into her cat form. She bounded down the staircase, raced into the kitchen, and gracefully leapt up onto one of the stools at the counter as she changed back to her human form.

"Oh, that was fun," she grinned to herself, taking a moment to catch her breath. "Think I definitely will be getting to know my feline form a fair bit this summer!"

She began to prepare some coffee, and was just trying to decide what would be a good option for breakfast when Minerva entered the room, dressed in a robe and yawning.

"Good morning, Hermione. I thought you'd be up already," she greeted the younger witch, as she pulled another mug down and sat it next to Hermione's mug by the coffee maker.

"Good morning, Minerva. I couldn't sleep in, so I thought I might as well make an early start on the day," Hermione replied. She poured coffee into both cups, added sugar and milk, and brought them over to the table. Minerva joined her, and there was a few moments of peace as the two witches sipped their coffee.

"Well, since we're both up early, how about we head out early, and go into London before the Ministry?" Minerva asked. "Perhaps we could have breakfast in one of the muggle café's, near Diagon Alley. I do have a quick errand or two to run in the Alley, and then we could floo to the Ministry via the Leaky Cauldron. How does that sound?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Hermione replied delightedly.

"Good. We will also be meeting Albus at nine at the Leaky Cauldron; he will be escorting us to the Ministry. You might remember him saying so the other day. It's not the most trustworthy place to be these days, particularly for ourselves."

"Why so?" Hermione asked curiously.

Minerva sighed. "You being the best friend of Harry Potter, as well as one of the students who was nearly killed by You-Know-Who, means that…how should I phrase this…of interest, to the Death Eaters. It's not exactly a secret that you're the brains of the Golden Trio. Not to mention that I was almost killed by a Ministry employee, they'd not be too fond of me after that bungle. Albus feels it's in our best interests for him to come along, and I trust his judgement so I'm not going to complain," she explained. Hermione nodded, and they finished their coffee in companionable silence.

"It's nearly six now," Minerva said as she arose to place her empty cup in the sink. "I still need to get showered and ready, how about we aim to leave at seven? I dare say you can find some books in the library to keep you occupied until then," she added with a wink.

Hermione smiled, and nodded. As her professor left the room, Hermione gave the cups a rinse out, left them on the draining rack to dry and made her way to the library.

Feeling much more rejuvenated after a hot shower, Minerva got dressed into a nice pair of muggle trousers and light blouse. She also shrunk one of her robes and placed it into her handbag, as she wasn't particularly willing to go to the Ministry in muggle attire.

Making her way downstairs, she called out to Hermione.

"Ready to go?" Minerva asked as the younger witch entered the hall.

"Uh, I am, but you're not," Hermione replied as she eyed her professor. "I don't see your walking stick anywhere?"

Minerva frowned, and was about to protest, however remembered the promise she had made to the girl several days before, about taking the walking stick when she left the house. Sighing, she decided to not bother argue, and simply summoned it from her bedroom. It came flying down the staircase, and she caught it deftly.

"Happy now?" she asked sarcastically, although with a small smile to show she wasn't upset.

"Extremely," Hermione replied with a grin. "Now, how are we getting to muggle London?"

"By floo, to Leaky, and then we can head out from there. It's the easiest way, particularly as I know how apparition isn't your most favourite method of magical transport."

The two witches headed into the living room, and with a quick flick of Minerva's wand, a fire was blazing merrily. Taking the pot of green powder from the mantle, she offered it first to the younger witch, who was soon gone in a flash of flame. Minerva tossed her own pinch into the fire, and quickly followed Hermione.

_Yes, not quite over yet – one final chapter to come, I think, and possibly an epilogue. I hope you all liked this chapter, only two and a half years late._


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